


24 Days of Handers

by draco_illius_noctis



Series: Caught Looking World [5]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Anal Sex, Background Relationships, Christmas Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Frottage, Humor, M/M, Oral Sex, Rimming, Semi-Public Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-04 07:41:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 51,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5326121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/draco_illius_noctis/pseuds/draco_illius_noctis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baseball season is done. Anders has decided to give up the last vestiges of his life in Ferelden and stay in Kirkwall permanently. Garrett, he thinks, is worth staying for. But snow isn’t a thing in Kirkwall, much to Anders’ disappointment. And Anders doesn’t really care about Christmas, to the holiday-obsessed Garrett’s disappointment. The month will be a series of firsts for the pair as they try to make the holiday season their own. </p><p>Based in my Caught Looking world. Tags will be added as chapters are posted. Rated E for upcoming chapters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Winter Expectations vs. Winter Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anders is used to snowy winters in Ferelden. Garrett has…seen snow in pictures? Kirkwall tends to run on the warm side, much to Anders’ disappointment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is rated T - some kissing/groping and dorks being dorks

“When is it going to snow?”

Anders was standing by the living room window, forehead resting on the glass as he gazed into the yard.

“It’s freezing outside…it has been for days. In Ferelden, we would have had two feet on the ground by now.”

“Better get used to it,” Garrett snorted from the couch. “We’re lucky if we get more than a coating all year.”

“Seriously?”

Anders turned and looked at him with a horrified expression on his face. Winters…with no snow? He had lived in Ferelden for so long, the idea of not trudging through knee-deep piles of the stuff was an entirely foreign concept. Literally.

“It’s warmer here, love,” Garrett frowned, putting down his magazine. “It’ll get cold, but usually not cold enough for snow. It’s a big deal when it happens.”

“But…” Anders protested. “I _like_ snow. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but there’s something I actually miss about Ferelden.”

Garrett sighed dramatically, flopping onto his back across the couch.

“You’re going to leave me for a weather formation,” he cried. “What did I do to deserve this!”

Anders grinned, crawling on top of Garrett and resting his head on his shoulder. Garrett hummed in approval, wrapping his arms around Anders’ body. Anders leaned forward to plant a small kiss on Garrett’s cheek before burrowing closer.

“Maybe I just wanted my big bear of a boyfriend to keep me warm this winter.”

Garrett hugged him tighter, pulling a pillow under his head and repositioning them both so they were comfortable.

“So tell me why you like winters in Ferelden so much,” he murmured into Anders’ ear.

Anders chuckled into Garrett’s neck.

“I want to hear about winters in Kirkwall first.”

“Mildly cold,” Garrett said, shrugging the shoulder Anders wasn’t lying on. “Cold enough for a medium weight jacket but we don’t really get the full winter experience.”

“No snow?”

“We haven’t had snow in…” Garrett paused, thinking. “Maybe six or seven years now? Could be longer. Usually, it gets cold and people complain that they miss the heat. Then they complain about the heat a couple months later. It’s nothing exciting.”

He planted a kiss on Anders’ head. “Although you might be in luck. They said we’re supposed to have a below-average winter. Maybe that means a little snow.”

Anders snorted. “Below average…what’s that mean? Five degrees colder than normal?”

“Don’t get cheeky,” Garrett grinned, tickling Anders’ side. The other man burst into laughter, squirming on top of him.

“And you didn’t answer my question.”

Anders sighed, wiping the tears of laughter from his face as he calmed back down.

“Lots of reasons,” he finally said. He propped his head up so he could look at Garrett’s face. “When was the last time you saw _real_ snow? Like a blanket of it, stretching as far as you could see?”

Garrett furrowed his brow, thinking.

“I…have no idea, actually. We moved to Kirkwall when I was young, and I don’t really remember winters in Lothering. It’s been a long time.”

Anders got a faraway look in his eyes, small smile on his face.

“We’ll have to go on a weekend trip or something,” he mused. “You need to see it in person to appreciate it, love.”

“I _love_ snow,” Garrett insisted. “When I see it in pictures, anyway.”

“It’s not the same,” Anders replied, shaking his head the best he was able in that position.

“Snow is…magic,” he said simply. “I could sit and watch it fall for hours. Especially at night, when the moon is the only light you have to see.”

Anders’ face has now taken on a dreamy expression, and Garrett remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

“I didn’t live in the city during the off-season,” he resumed. “I needed the open air. And when it snows, it’s just so _quiet_. The stillness in the air…it’s almost as if you could touch it. Like the world has decided to just shut down for a while and rest. I could sense when it had snowed the night before, as soon as I woke up, and the first thing I would do is grab my snow boots, get bundled up and go for a walk.”

He turned his attention back to Garrett, eyes soft and somewhat pleading.

“I want us to go walk in the snow like that, love. The way it looks first thing in the morning, completely untouched and silent…it’s like being in another world. All you can hear is the crunch of the snow under your feet, or maybe some birds singing in the distance. It’s beautiful.”

“I…don’t think that’s what we’d hear in Kirkwall,” Garrett said gently. He didn’t want to spoil the spell that seemed to have come over his boyfriend. He’d _never_ seen Anders like this.

“What makes you think we’ll be in Kirkwall?” Anders grinned. “I want you to see it properly. There’s so much more besides that, though. Sleigh rides, snowball fights, snowmen…building igloos to cuddle in later.” He wiggled his eyebrows at Garrett.

“Plus, you know Woofy would _love_ the snow.”

Garrett’s eyes lit up at the mention of his dog.

“Okay…you might be right about that,” he conceded.

Anders laughed and leaned over, placing another small kiss on Garrett’s lips. Garrett promptly pulled him back into a longer, deeper kiss until they finally broke apart, both panting.

“Is that my cue to shut up?” Anders grinned as he settled back into his former position.

“Sorry,” Garrett said sheepishly. “I got a little carried away.”

“That’s usually my job,” Anders laughed. “But as I was saying…”

“Snow is beautiful and you want to drag me outside at some ungodly hour to crunch around and listen to the birds sing. Did I get it right?”

Garrett grinned and braced himself for the ambush he knew was coming.

Sure enough, a split second later and Anders was up, one leg wedged between Garrett’s and the couch so he was straddling the larger man.

“Garrett Hawke, how dare you,” Anders said with mock offense. He squeezed Garrett’s sides playfully, causing the other man to bark out a laugh before he grabbed the hem of Garrett’s shirt, pulling it up and off his head with little resistance. He reached out and tweaked Garrett’s already hard nipples, eliciting a low moan from the other man.

“I should punish you by making you go outside like this,” Anders mused, running his fingers down Garrett’s sides. “It’ll give you a new appreciation for the cold.”

“Mmmph,” Garrett grunted, clutching Anders’ hips. “I can feel it just fine right here. I think you should warm me up.”

Anders rolled his eyes, grinning.

“Really, Garrett? Is that the best you could do?”

“You shouldn’t expect Shakespeare when you have me like this,” Garrett smirked, gripping Anders tighter as he rolled his hips. Anders’ eyes fluttered shut, a quiet gasp escaping his mouth.

“Fair point,” he choked out, grinding down into Garrett’s lap.

Garrett’s hands slid up Anders’ sides and across his back, pulling him forward so their mouths could meet once more. Anders groaned into Garrett’s mouth, tugging gently on his lip before planting kisses down his neck and across his collarbone.

Garrett was writhing beneath his touch, letting out small gasps and moans whenever Anders would hit a particularly sensitive spot. His hands now rested on Anders’ ass, holding him firmly in place as he undulated their hips together while Anders' mouth wandered over his body.

They remained like that for a while, both achingly hard in their pants and Garrett’s groans becoming increasingly louder the farther down Anders moved.

“Love?” Garrett gasped as Anders nipped at his nipple. “Do you want to move to the other room?”

Anders glanced up at him, mischievous look on his face. He opened his mouth to reply, but his expression quickly changed to one of confusion as his eyes flickered to the side.

“What’s wrong?” Garrett frowned, following his line of vision and seeing nothing unusual.

Anders, however, scrambled off of Garrett, running to the window and pressing his face against the glass.

“Anders?”

The other man remained silent. Garrett groaned, adjusted himself in his pants and stood, standing behind Anders and wrapping his arms around him once more.

“We didn’t _have_ to go in the other room, you know,” he said, resting his chin on Anders’ shoulder.

“Shush, Garrett. _Look._ ”

He started tapping his finger on the glass next to his head. Garrett squinted.

“Is that…”

“ _Snow_ ,” Anders grinned, turning to look at his boyfriend. He looped his arms around Garrett’s neck, pulling him into another kiss. “Sorry, love. My date arrived, I have to leave now.”

Garrett chuckled, pulling him close.

“Ditching me for some fancy rain, I see how it is.” He sighed, feeling Anders laugh against him.

“I’ll take you on an even more exciting date if you stay.”

Anders looked up, grinning at the pout on Garrett’s face. 

“I suppose I’ll give you a shot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE BEEN PLANNING THIS FOR SO LONG, YOU GUYS. LIKE YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW. And now it's finally here, and suddenly I went from being super excited to super nervous for absolutely no reason other than I spent all of my non-working/non-sleeping spare time (which was admittedly very little) working on these. 
> 
> Comments/kudos/etc. etc. more than appreciated. And if you want to visit me on tumblr instead, come find me [ here.](http://draco-illius-noctis.tumblr.com/) Hope you enjoy <3


	2. We need to buy you winter clothing...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No, Garrett. Piling shirts on top of each other does _not_ count as a coat. 
> 
> The pair decides to stock up on supplies - and proper clothing for Garrett - before the incoming storm gets any worse. Garrett gets a little more than he bargained for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated E - dicks will be entering mouths

“I don’t _need_ a heavy jacket,” Garrett griped. “This one is fine!”

“Love…you’re wearing two long-sleeved t-shirts. That doesn’t count as a jacket.”

“One of them is over top of the other. That makes it outerwear.” Garrett gave him a superior look, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Garrett,” Anders sighed, gesturing towards the large window. “There’s already three inches of snow on the ground, and more on the way. You can’t go out there in just a couple of shirts.”

“Watch me.”

“We should go out now while we can still drive.” Anders paused, gazing out of the window. “If you don’t want to go, I’m going without you. We need some food anyway, and I should stop at my apartment.”

Garrett groaned, looking away.

“Or,” Anders said, grabbing his own coat and moving towards the door. “I’ll just go back to my apartment and stay. You can fend for yourself.”

“What!” Garrett gasped. “We’re supposed to do all those…snow…things you talked about! How can we if you’re across town?”

“How can we if you’re going to freeze to death after ten minutes?”

Relenting, Garrett grabbed his keys and trudged to the door with a sigh. Being mid-day and on a busy route, the drive to the mall was bearable. The other cars were driving painstakingly slow for Anders’ tastes (even if he wasn’t the one driving), but then he remembered that these were unusual driving conditions for Kirkwall and everyone was probably in a mild panic.

According to the news, it was the first time in ten years that the city had gotten more than a couple inches of snow, and over three decades since they were in blizzard-like conditions. A blizzard wasn’t expected, but with the extremely unseasonable coldness, they _were_ expecting a snowstorm to come and go over the next several days. Much to Anders’ delight.

Garrett’s mood lifted slightly once they entered the mall. It was decked out for Christmas, a large, looming Christmas tree in the center, extending up the several-story building. Anders turned to look at his boyfriend, who was now grinning widely as he craned his neck upward.

“I want one of these in my future house,” Garrett whispered in awe.

Anders grabbed his hand, giving it a slight squeeze as he felt a warm rush of happiness run through him.

“I’ll get you one, love,” he smiled.

Garrett turned that radiant smile on Anders, blushing slightly but saying nothing. He began heading for one of the department stores, but Anders tugged on his hand, urging him in the other direction.

“If we’re going to get you something, let’s get something nice,” Anders insisted. “It’ll be my treat.”

Garrett shook his head, pulling him back on his original path.

“You don’t have to do that,” he said firmly. “I can afford a jacket.”

“Hey,” Anders murmured, taking him off to the side. “It has nothing to do with money, okay? You’re going to need a coat, boots, gloves, hat…all sorts of stuff. _I’m_ the one who wants you to do all these things with me, at least let me buy them. You can buy me lunch.”

He gave Garrett a lopsided smile, hopeful expression on his face. He knew Garrett was sensitive about their financial situations, but buying everything he would need would put a serious dent in Garrett’s bank account while it wouldn’t even be noticeable in Anders’. Times like this he wished Garrett would let him spoil him a little more often.

“Fine,” Garrett relented. “But I don’t want you to spend too much. With my luck, Woofy will jump on me and tear a hole right down the front.”

Anders snorted and the pair began walking towards one of the more upscale athletic stores. Luckily, the store was nearly empty, and Anders expected it would close very soon because of the snow. That would hopefully make their shopping trip easier, with fewer people to potentially recognize him. He had pulled a wool hat on his head and was somewhat bundled up, but he was sure some eagle-eyed fan could still pick him out.

Garrett stood just inside the entrance and looked around.

“I haven’t the slightest clue where to start. Do you think they even _have_ the right kind of clothes?”

Anders pointed out the winter clothing section, chuckling, and walked over, quickly selecting a jacket, gloves, hats and other small essentials.

“What do you think?”

Garrett tried on the hat and gloves, which he approved of. The jacket took a couple of tries, but they finally got one that fit right. After dumping them all into a cart, they made their way over to the shirts.

“Why don’t they have any baseball stuff out?” Garrett scoffed, flicking a football jersey with his finger.

“Probably because it’s December, love,” Anders murmured distractedly, rifling through the thermal shirts on the rack. He selected several, gesturing towards the dressing room.

“Come on, let’s try these on.”

“Can’t I just bring them back if they don’t fit?”

“It’ll take five seconds,” Anders said, rolling his eyes. He grinned, leaning towards Garrett’s ear.

“Maybe I just want to see you shirtless again.”

Garrett blushed once more, goofy smile on his face as he looked around for other people. There were barely even any employees in the store, let alone other shoppers.

“Fine, but let’s hurry. I’m hungry.”

The dressing room, as they expected, was deserted. They chose one of the larger stalls at the end so they could both fit, and Anders quickly shed his outerwear and began pulling off his shirt when he paused, distracted by Garrett’s gaze.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Garrett grinned sheepishly. “Just admiring the view.”

Anders laughed and pulled his shirt the rest of the way off, then looked at Garrett expectantly.

“Aren’t you going to try yours on?”

“Oh,” Garrett said, furrowing his brow. “Sorry, I thought they were all for you.”

He tugged off both of his shirts, dropping them onto the floor before examining the new ones that hung on the hook next to him.

“Which are for me?”

He turned and looked at Anders when he got no reply, his boyfriend biting his bottom lip as he gazed at Garrett with a look of unbridled lust.

“Um…”

He was cut off as Anders surged forward, pinning him to the wall with a loud _oof_. He began pressing kisses along his neck as Garrett squirmed under his hold.

“ _Anders_ ,” Garrett panted. “Can’t we wait til we get home?”

“Nope.”

“Someone might walk in!” Garrett moaned as Anders nipped the sensitive spot right behind his ear.

“They won’t,” came the muffled reply.

Garrett could feel his cock hardening already and his hips involuntarily thrust forward on their own. Anders chuckled against his ear, tugging at the lobe with his teeth.

“Problem, love?”

Garrett grabbed one of Anders’ hands and pressed the palm against his clothed dick, grinding into it. Anders squeezed gently, pulling forth another small moan from Garrett’s mouth.

“Hmmm,” Anders murmured, giving Garrett a leisurely kiss. “Let me see what I can do.”

In one swift movement, Anders was on his knees and unbuttoning Garrett’s pants, tugging them to his knees. Garrett leaned against the wall, watching through half-lidded eyes as Anders nuzzled his face into the large bulge straining against the thin cotton fabric of Garrett’s underwear.

“Anders…” Garrett grit out. “ _Please_.”

Anders pressed a kiss to the shaft before freeing Garrett’s cock, giving it a slow stroke. He gazed up, looking for permission as his mouth hovered over the tip.

“ _Yes_ ,” Garrett breathed out, resting his head against the wall.

Anders let out a quiet whimper before taking the head of Garrett’s cock into his mouth, causing his lover to shout, his fist quickly pressed between his teeth as he fought to keep quiet. Anders hummed in amusement as he took more in, the vibrations sending thrills of pleasure right up Garrett’s spine.

“ _Anders_ , _FUCK,_ ” Garrett choked out, the name mingled with a low groan as Anders leisurely pushed forward, relaxing his throat and taking the entire length in his mouth. He repeated the motion several times, feeling Garrett’s legs begin to shake as he struggled to remain upright.

Anders gagged a bit, slowly pulling back until Garrett’s dick fell out of his mouth, bobbing heavy between his legs. Anders’ face was red, mouth and chin soaked with their mingled fluids as he caught his breath. Garrett couldn’t help but wonder if there was ever a time when he didn’t look like the most perfect man on earth.

Garrett was about to speak when Anders licked his lips, smiling up at him before taking a deep breath and swallowing his cock again in one swift movement.

“ _GOD, FUCK, ANDERS,”_ Garrett half screamed and half cried, hand twisting into Anders’ hair to keep him in place. Anders ran one hand up his leg to his hip, squeezing lightly.

Garrett took his cue and thrust once, gently, to let Anders get used to the movement. Anders closed his eyes and let out a long, muffled groan around his cock, squeezing Garrett’s hip again.

“Anders…holy fuck, don’t stop,” Garrett gasped, driving his hips into Anders’ mouth with mounting speed. His other hand quickly joined the first, both now tangled in Anders’ hair as he feverishly thrust hard. Anders was gripping both of Garrett’s thighs tightly, bracing himself against the onslaught as he whimpered with every movement.

Garrett stared intently at Anders’ mouth, watching his cock disappear into the red, swollen, wet lips. He moaned louder, Anders’ name mingling repeatedly with “oh fuck” and “so good.”

His hips began to move erratically, and Anders took the opportunity to snake one hand over and cup Garrett’s balls, massaging them lightly. Garrett screamed loud enough that Anders wondered _how_ no one had appeared yet, but he didn’t pause, shifting his eyes up to meet Garrett’s.

“ _Fuck_ , love, I’m…gonna come…” Garrett grunted out, and with a broken wail he thrust one more time, coming down Anders’ throat.

Anders moaned deeply, swallowing as much as he could and feeling the rest dribbling out of his mouth and down his chin. Garrett finally pulled back, panting and sweaty, running his fingers through Anders’ hair as the other man wiped his face clean.

“Do you…” Garrett panted, leaning heavily against the wall with his pants still around his knees. He gestured towards Anders crotch, the other man starting to pull himself to his feet.

“No,” Anders replied, voice slightly hoarse. He stood, adjusting himself in his pants and smiled. “Let’s finish shopping. I’ll spoil you some more once we get home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk what I'm doing but I hope you like it. It's been a rough day so I'm starting to doubt literally e v e r y t h i n g about my writing. And thank you all so much for the positive response to the first one - here and on tumblr. I was honestly surprised! But definitely very pleased <3


	3. Treatment for the flu/a cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrett has a cold (wear some clothes, Garrett) and has a special request for Anders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to say T for language? This one is pure fluff.

Anders stood watching the snow fall through the kitchen window as he waited for the soup to heat. It had been coming down steadily since the day before, and now a thick, white blanket coated the ground. It was a peaceful snow, no heavy winds or ice or unnecessary complications.

He and Garrett had stocked up the day before after buying Garrett his snow gear. Garrett had food in his apartment, but they decided to play it safe and buy enough to last in the event of a power outage or being trapped inside for days at a time. Anders had stopped by his apartment and grabbed a few essentials (he really didn’t know why they didn’t just live together at this point, but he wasn’t going to push the matter) and they were ready to bunker down until the storm passed.

Except…

A flurry of sneezes came from the couch, followed by a nose being blown and a low groan of misery. Anders glanced at the stove, then wandered into the living room.

Garrett was stretched out across the couch, his large frame barely fitting on the oversized piece of furniture that Anders had insisted on buying for him. An old blanket was thrown over his body and a box of tissues was wedged in between him and the back of the couch. He looked _awful_.

“How are you feeling, love?” Anders murmured as he perched on the arm of the couch, brushing Garrett’s hair out of his face.

“Horrible.”

“Your soup is almost ready. Anything else you want?”

Anders continued running his fingers through Garrett’s hair, smiling as the man closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.

Just when he thought his boyfriend had fallen asleep, Garrett stirred, looking up at him with sleepy, pitiful eyes.

“To not be sick?”

Anders barked out a laugh, startling Woofy on the other side of the room.

“You aren’t even that bad,” he grinned. “You’ll be fine in a day or two. I meant is there anything you want _immediately_? Crackers with your soup? Orange juice? More tissues?”

Garrett sighed. “Crackers with my soup, I guess.”

Anders smiled and kissed him on the forehead before returning to the kitchen and dishing out the soup. Garrett had sat up in the meantime and was wrapping the blanket around his shoulders when Anders put the food in front of him.

“I thought of something else I want,” Garrett said, swallowing a large spoonful. Anders raised an eyebrow.

“A story.”

“A story?” Anders chuckled. “About?”

Garrett shrugged.

“I don’t know…tell me about Christmas when you were little.”

Anders stiffened slightly before relaxing into a smile.

“I didn’t celebrate much.”

Garrett nearly choked on his soup, looking at Anders in horror.

“But… _Santa_!”

Anders chuckled, looking away.

“My parents weren’t around. Kind of hard to celebrate when you’re alone.”

Garrett felt a pang in his chest at the words. Anders didn’t talk about his family – or his past, in general – very much, but he knew it was a sore spot.

“You didn’t celebrate ate all?”

“No, Garrett,” Anders sighed. “I don’t really like Christmas much. I never had any reason to.”

Garrett saw the painful look flicker across his face again and decided to drop it. He ate another mouthful of his soup, trying to think of something non-offensive to say.

“I really like Christmas.”

“I know, love,” Anders chuckled, brushing his hand across Garrett’s cheek. “I’m sorry I’m not more excited.”

Garrett smiled, shifting himself slightly on the couch before erupting into another fit of sneezes. Anders managed to grab the bowl of soup before it went spilling everywhere, nudging the box of tissues back towards Garrett.

“Sorry,” Garrett sniffed, blowing his nose three times before he was satisfied.

“Did you take the medicine I gave you?”

“…Maybe.”

“Garrett,” Anders sighed. “It’ll help.”

He paused for a moment, thinking.

“If you take your medicine, I’ll think of a story for you.”

Garrett grimaced and very reluctantly nodded his head, fishing the small pills out from underneath the magazine where he had hidden them.

“ _Really_ , Garrett?” Anders laughed incredulously. “I guess I should be happy you didn’t hide them between the couch cushions.”

Garrett glared, following the pills with half a glass of water before reaching a hand out for his soup bowl. Anders walked back to the kitchen, letting Garrett finish eating while he cleaned up.

Hearing the clink of the spoon in the bowl, Anders returned, exchanging the bowl for a fresh glass of orange juice. Garrett was rearranging the blanket when Anders came back, gesturing for the man to scoot over as he got comfortable on the end. He held out his arms, and Garrett readily moved to lean back against Anders’ chest, stretching his legs (and the blanket) across the couch.

“So…” Anders mused. “I promised you a story.”

Garrett hummed in confirmation, sniffing and closing his eyes as he burrowed more comfortably against his lover’s body.

“I don’t have any Christmas stories,” he admitted, “but I do have plenty of snow stories.”

“That’s fine,” Garrett mumbled sleepily.

“Okay, this one is kind of silly, but you might like it,” Anders chuckled. “It’s from my last year of college.”

“With Karl?” Garrett murmured.

“No, love,” Anders whispered, brushing Garrett’s hair out of his face. “Before that.”

Garrett made another noise of acknowledgment and reached for Anders’ hand, entwining their fingers together. Anders smiled down at him before continuing.

“So, we had just started the second semester, and I’m really excited. Baseball season’s getting ready to start and everyone’s really hyped. I already knew if I had the kind of season I thought I would, I was going to leave after that year.”

Garrett gave him a small “mmhmm” in response.

“I never paid any attention to the weather, so I had no idea we were in for a storm. I was with some of my teammates in the gym one night, lifting weights and fooling around when it started snowing.”

“’Fooling around’?” Garrett asked, looking up and wiggling his eyebrows.

Anders rolled his eyes but smiled. “Not everything is a porno, Garrett. We were just acting like jackasses.”

Garrett let out a huff of disappointment but didn’t say anything else.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Anders laughed. “The snow came down really fast. A blizzard that had apparently been forecast, but came in quicker than they anticipated. I remember hearing people talking about it that night, but I thought they were talking about what was coming…not what was happening right then.”

“They weren’t talking about baseball, so you didn’t care.”

“Pretty much,” Anders agreed. “So you can imagine how surprised we were when the announcement came over that we were all supposed to stay in the building until the storm passed.”

“Makes sense,” Garrett nodded.

“Sure it did. But that doesn’t mean I agreed.”

“Of course you didn’t.”

Garrett grinned and craned his head, looking up at Anders for a kiss, which Anders willingly gave.

“So we settle down for about 10 minutes, and suddenly I’m _starving_. Like, all I can think about is food. None of us have any food on us, naturally, which only makes me want to eat even more. We finally decide that we’re going to sneak out of one of the side doors and make a run for the student center. We’re all in sweatpants and t-shirts, mind you—“

“ _That’s_ why you made such a big deal about me getting real winter clothes!” Garrett snorted.

“ _Maybe_ ,” Anders teased. “But anyway, we wait until everyone is distracted and casually walk to one of the back exits. No one is paying us any attention because _why_ would anyone try to go out of the back doors and not the front?”

Garrett sighed loudly and shook his head, squirming against Anders’ body.

“Don’t you sigh at me,” Anders laughed, squeezing his side playfully and causing Garrett to yelp. “So we sneak out of the gym and it is a _nightmare_ outside. So windy, we can barely see, and it’s cold as fuck.”

“Snow does tend to be like that.”

Anders ignored him. “We finally make it to the student center…only to find out that they had already closed because of the storm. Now we’re locked outside, far away from our dorms, and still in our gym clothes. So logically, instead of retracing our steps and heading back to the gym, we decide to make a run for our rooms instead.”

“Logically.”

“We start making our way across campus – there were four of us, I think – and we’re already freezing. The snow isn’t super deep, but the wind and snow are so blinding we can barely see where we’re going.”

Garrett gives a sleepy chuckle.

“At one point I trip and smash my knee against a bench cause I couldn’t see. Now I’m limping as we try and rush towards the dorms, but we have no idea if we’re even going in the right direction after a while. We’re stumbling, crashing into each other, and laughing like we’re fucking insane. Which we probably were, at that point.”

Anders ran his fingers across Garrett’s cheek softly, the other man leaning into the touch with an appreciative hum.

“Our dorm was on the side of a hill, with a pretty deep slope coming in from the walkway. We realized we were close when one of my friends went tumbling down the side.”

“That…doesn’t sound good,” Garrett chuckled.

Anders’ body started shaking with laughter at the memory, and it took him a couple minutes before he could continue.

“We were running,” he laughed, “and suddenly we hear this scream of absolute terror off to the side. I had no fucking clue what had happened. We all stopped, looking around in panic and trying to figure out what happened.”

He starts laughing all over again, Garrett staring up at him in amusement.

“Finally, from the bottom of this hill we hear, ‘Save yourselves, go on without me! I’m going to build an igloo and wait it out!’”

Anders paused for a moment to catch his breath, wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes.

“We didn’t leave him there, of course, and it took all of us to claw our way back up the side of the hill and up to the dorm. We’re exhausted and I swear, I had never been so happy to see that shithole of a building than I was right then.”

“That was funny,” Garrett murmured, snuggling closer.

“Oh, I’m not done yet,” Anders grinned. “So we get to the door and I’m starting to mildly freak out that I have frostbite or something and then it dawns on me. We left our book bags, wallets, regular clothes, _everything_ , back in the gym. Including the keys to get in the building.”

 _“Seriously?_ ”

“Yup. I remember collapsing against the wall, totally exhausted and dreading the idea of walking back to the gym. The rest of the guys must have felt the same cause one of them started pounding on the front door with his fists, begging for someone to let us in.” Anders sighed, shaking his head. “Luckily, we were only out there for a few minutes before someone took pity on us.”

“What happened to your stuff?” Garrett mumbled into Anders’ chest.

Anders laughed. “Well, we all went inside and thawed out first. But you have to remember…this was a while ago; we didn’t all have cell phones. So it wasn’t like we could just text someone to bring it to us. We ended up just waiting it out. As soon as they gave the okay for us to leave our buildings again, me and one of the other guys bundled up and trudged back across campus and brought them back.”

He placed a small kiss on the top of Garrett’s head, noticing the man’s breathing slowing as he drifted off to sleep.

“And that’s my snow story.”

“Was a good story,” Garrett yawned, pulling the blanket higher.

Anders shifted so that they were both lying down, Garrett’s body sandwiched between his and the couch for warmth as he rearranged the blanket over them both. Garrett’s arm immediately snaked over his hips, hugging Anders close as he nestled his head into Anders’ shoulder.

Anders rested a hand on the one around his waist, giving it a small squeeze.

“Feel better, love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of fluff tonight :) I think all Garrett really wanted was to hear Anders' voice while he drifted off to sleep. 
> 
> Thank you for all of the love, I love you all back <3


	4. Getting the person who doesn't like Christmas into the right festive mood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anders has next to no interest in Christmas, and Garrett is determined to change that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: G - another round of fluff

Anders awoke the next morning and immediately sensed something was off. Or rather, something was _missing_. He scooted towards the center of the bed, and instead of hitting the space heater he called his boyfriend, Garrett was nowhere to be found and his pillow was cool to the touch.

He frowned, listening for any faint sounds of Garrett in the shower or the kitchen, but all was quiet. Garrett _never_ got out of bed first…maybe he was sick. Sicker.   


With a sigh, he sat up, the chill of the room greeting him as he pushed the covers down. After a quick trip to the bathroom (confirming Garrett was definitely not there), Anders stretched and made his way to the kitchen. Maybe he could convince Garrett to come back to bed for another hour or two. Not like they had anything else to do that day.  


Upon entering the other room, however, he was greeted by the sight of boxes spread out all over the living room…Garrett sprawled right in the middle of them.

“What in the world are you doing?” Anders asked with amusement, leaning against the side of the couch.

Garrett grinned up at him, elbow-deep in the nearest box.

“I took out the Christmas decorations.”

“From _where?_ ”

"The storage closet," Garrett replied, standing. "The one outside. When I let Woofy out, I went and grabbed them."  


Anders nodded his head, giving him a bemused look before turning towards the kitchen.

"So I take it that means you're staying in here. Do you want coffee? I'll make some if you aren't coming back to bed."  


“Wait!” Garrett shouted. Anders looked over his shoulder to see Garrett rubbing the back of his neck, looking at him sheepishly.

“Um…” Garrett began tentatively, taking a step closer. “I know you don’t really like Christmas and stuff, but I thought maybe…you’d like to help?”

Anders raised an eyebrow, but Garrett kept talking.  


"You don't have to," he said quickly, "but I thought maybe it could be fun. We could decorate the inside of the apartment. Without the tree, obviously. That can wait until we can go out again."  


They both looked out of the front window, watching as the wind blew dustings of snow across the front of the building. Drifts had formed against the cars and steps and even though the sidewalk had been shoveled, enough had blown back over that you couldn’t even tell.

Anders turned his gaze from the window to Garrett, unable to resist the hopeful look on the other man’s face. Not that he was planning on saying no to begin with.

He sighed in fake resignation, grinning as Garrett bounced on the balls of his feet in excitement.

“I actually _do_ need some coffee, though, love," Anders said, turning towards the kitchen once again. 

“No, no!” Garrett called, sprinting ahead of him. “Putting up decorations means drinking hot chocolate. You _have_ to drink hot chocolate while decorating. Preferably with marshmallows.”

He gave Anders such a solemn look...as if this was some sort of joining ritual. Anders grinned, following Garrett into the kitchen and wrapping his arms around his waist.  


“Hot chocolate it is then,” he murmured, resting his chin on Garrett’s shoulder. “How are you feeling, by the way?”

“Better,” Garrett said decidedly. “I think hot chocolate helps with colds, too.”

Anders gave him a light-hearted groan, kissing the side of his neck before walking to the cabinet to grab a couple mugs.

“Let me changed real fa—“

“Nope,” Garrett interrupted. “We should decorate in our pajamas.”

“Garrett…you aren’t even wearing a shirt.”

Garrett shrugged. “When do I ever?”

“ _You’re sick_.”

“Fine,” Garrett sighed, trudging towards the bedroom. He emerged a minute later in an old t-shirt, which, from Anders’ standpoint, looked like it was inside out. And possibly backwards.

Once the hot chocolate was made and the marshmallows were added (Anders was pretty sure Garrett had more marshmallows than drink), they walked back to the living room, surveying the boxes in front of them.  


“Okay,” Garrett began, pulling a box towards them. “First things first, we need to get into the decorating spirit. Woofy!”

Anders furrowed his brow as Garrett dug through the box, Woofy’s snout joining him a second later.

"Here we go!" Garrett exclaimed, holding up an incredibly garish collar. It was huge, decorated with red and green garland and enough bells that Anders was sure he would be driven nuts in about ten minutes.  


Garrett fastened the collar around Woofy’s neck, and the dog shook his head a few times for good measure. _On purpose_ , Anders thought, grimly.

“We don’t have to wear anything that ridiculous, do we?”

Garrett scoffed.

"Don't be silly. I don't feel like changing my shirt again. Now…let's see where to start."

They spent the next 45 minutes rummaging through the boxes. Garrett turned on Christmas carols and they sat in silence for a bit as they searched. Anders had to admit, he was actually beginning to feel like he was in the holiday spirit. For the first time in many, many years.

The boxes were a mess. One entire box was just tree ornaments, so they put that aside for now. Another one contained most of the outdoor lights, although Garrett promised there were more in storage. Anders had a feeling that planes could probably land in front of Garrett’s apartment when he was done decorating.

"No offense, love," Anders said after a little while. “But your apartment isn’t that big. This is a _lot_ of stuff.”  


Garrett blinked at him, face completely blank. Saying nothing, he reached into another box and pulled out a large pile of construction paper, scissors, tape and other crafting supplies.

“We’ll start by turning the fridge into a snowman.”

Anders barked out a laugh, nearly choking on the remains of his drink.

“Then we’ll do the front door next,” he laughed.

Garrett, however, perked up at the words.

“Now you’re getting the idea!”

“No, Garrett, I didn’t mean—“

Garrett pushed some of the supplies towards him, paying no attention.

"We'll decorate the fridge, and the inside of the front and back doors as snowmen," he said, ticking them off on his fingers. "Then there's the tree bulb window hangings, we can hang lights from the ceiling…it's too bad we didn't pick up any candy canes while we were out the other day…"

Anders stared at him incredulously as he babbled on, pulling out a random assortment of decorations, things to make new decorations, and a large pile that appeared to have no discernable use. Except to Garrett. By the time they were finished, Anders wasn’t sure he’d have a place to sit.

And that was before the dog box.

“Time for my favorite,” Garrett said, grinning.

He reached in and began placing the most ridiculous assortment of dog-themed ornaments and decorations he could have ever imagined along the floor next to them. _Why_ were there candleholders in the shape of dog’s heads wearing Santa hats? And WHY did Garrett own them? There was a string of dog-shaped holiday lights that Garrett insisted would hang over the front window. Many, _many_ figurines of dogs dressed in distinctive winter clothing or rolling around in the snow. There were also several wall decorations and a fair amount of random stuffed dog toys dressed in several different outfits. None of this should have surprised him, yet it did, nonetheless.   


But despite it all, he had to admit he was gradually warming up to the idea of a festive, definitely over-enthusiastic holiday this year. Garrett’s excitement was infectious. If only his choice in decorations ran a little less…eclectic.

“Garrett…” Anders half-sighed, half-laughed. “Sometimes you really leave me speechless.”

He held up a giant stocking with Woofy's name written in glitter across the top in big, bold letters.  


Garrett shrugged, grinning.

“He gets a lot of presents.”

“Not my point, love.”

“Speaking of which,” Garrett said, shyly.

He reached over and grabbed a small plastic bag that Anders hadn’t noticed until that moment. Garrett peeked inside, then placed the bag on the coffee table, sliding it over.

“I got that for you.”

Anders looked at him curiously before he reached into the bag and pulled out a large, plain stocking.  


“I got one for me, too,” Garrett explained, blushing slightly and fiddling with his fingers. “I thought maybe we could add our names and stuff. Make them our own. It could sort of be our first…I don’t know, tradition or something?”

He looked at Anders with a mixture of hope and fear, and Anders could tell he was bracing himself in case Anders laughed in his face.

Anders’ heart swelled at the gesture, rendering him speechless.

_A part of something. With Garrett. Ours…_ he thought. He loved the feel of it as he let the idea wash over him. _This. This is what it feels like to have a family._

“Anders?”

He hadn’t realized he had been silent for so long. He glanced over at Garrett’s worried frown before looking away quickly, swiping at his eyes.

“I’m fine,” he choked out, the emotion in his voice surprising him.

“No, you’re not,” Garrett said, immediately at his side. He rested a hand on Anders’ thigh, squeezing it gently. “I’m sorry, what did I do wrong?”

Anders burst out laughing, thankful to have a reason to release the rest of his unshed tears. He laughed until he was out of breath, the look of horror on Garrett's face doing nothing to stop the fit.

When he was done and had wiped his face clean, he turned to Garrett with a fond smile, cupping his face in both of his hands.

“Nothing at all,” he whispered, leaning forward to plant a gentle but lingering kiss on Garrett’s lips. “I can’t remember the last time something felt so right.”


	5. Snowball fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrett is itching to try out his new snow clothes, so the pair decides to clear a spot outside for Woofy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: E - anal sex, rimming

“What’s the point of having all these fancy winter clothes if I don’t get to try them out?” Garrett whined, bouncing impatiently on his feet as he looked out of the front window.

The snow had finally stopped, but the thick coating outside made it impossible to leave the house. While it didn’t bother Anders – who was used to this type of weather – Garrett was slowly starting to go stir-crazy.

“What are you going to do, love?” Anders asked, sipping his coffee as he read the news on his laptop. “Run down to the corner and back? Nothing’s open.”

Garrett groaned and walked over to perch on the arm of the chair that Anders was currently occupying. He sat there silently, looking over Anders’ shoulder but doing nothing else.

Anders finally turned, looking at him questioningly.

“Sooo…what are you doing?” Garrett drawled.

Anders sighed, smiling, closing his laptop.

“What would _you_ like to do?”

Garrett wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, grinning down at his boyfriend.

“Not that I’m going to turn down that offer,” Anders murmured, running a hand up Garrett’s thigh, “but I don’t think it would be nearly as fun doing it outside.”

Garrett laughed, stopping Anders’ hand right before it reached any farther. He had a feeling if he didn’t, they probably wouldn’t leave the bedroom for the rest of the day. Not that that was necessarily a _bad_ idea, but he did want to go outside.

“I was thinking we should shovel a better path for Woofy.”

Anders nodded. They had cleared a small area for the dog right off of the back porch so he could go to the bathroom, but it wasn’t very large space and was constantly getting dusted over. Apparently, Woofy was very particular about his bathroom habits.

“Plus,” Garrett continued, almost sheepishly. “I want to try on some of the stuff we bought the other day.”

“So basically, you want to go play in the snow?” Anders grinned.

Garrett nudged him with his shoulder, laughing.

“If you want to put it that way. But think of the dog, Anders. _Think of the dog!_ ” He gestured at Woofy, who was sound asleep on his dog bed.

Anders stood and stretched, giving Garrett a smirk.

“Alright. Let’s go get changed and then we can dig Woofy a maze for his yellow snow.”

Garrett practically stripped himself of his pajamas along the way to the bedroom, already half-dressed by the time Anders strolled in behind him, picking up the clothes in his wake.

“These sleeves aren’t very conducive to my arm…width,” Garrett grumbled, flapping his arms around wildly.

Anders paused to stare, one leg in his pants, before bursting into laughter.

“ _Why_ you would need to move your arms that way, I don’t know,” he wheezed. “You just need some time for the sleeves to stretch out, love. You’ll be fine.”

Garrett yanked on his knit hat with a huff, almost covering his eyes, and walked over to the mirror to examine himself.

“And you call _me_ the vain one,” Anders chuckled, shrugging into his own coat. “Are you worried Woofy isn’t going to approve?”

A large glove bounced off of Anders’ head a second later.

“I could tackle you in that coat and you would never feel it, you know,” Anders grinned, walking slowly towards Garrett, who had backed up until his knees hit the bed. Anders pressed against him – as much as he could, anyway – reaching around to grab Garrett’s ass and pull his hips forward.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay inside?” he purred.

Garrett looked at him with a glazed expression for a moment before pushing himself away.

“I’m sure,” he nodded. “Woofy needs to pee.”

Anders rolled his eyes but finished dressing, following Garrett (and Woofy) into the backyard. It was tough work, even with the two of them. To Anders, it looked like about a foot of snow had fallen. Considering that this was a city that received _maybe_ a light coating, at best, they were reaching record amounts. And the news had said there was still more to come.

They each took one side of the steps, shoveling out a path that met in the middle so that Woofy would have a semi-circular track to run around in. He was thrilled, sprinting back and forth and flopping into the snow, only to shake off his fur next to the closest human.

Anders was the unlucky target the most recent time, and he was still wiping his eyes clean when he felt a heavy thump on his back.

“What the…” he muttered, turning around. Garrett was standing a fair distance away, grinning, another ball of snow in his hand. Anders’ eyes went from Garrett’s face to his hand, and back to his face once more.

“Garrett…” he warned, looking at him warily. Garrett only grinned wider, packing the snow together between his hands.

Without warning, Garrett let it fly, smacking Anders right in the shoulder. He doubled over laughing as Anders stood staring at Garrett with his mouth open in shock.

“Oh, you’re in for it now,” Anders smirked, scooping up his own pile, quickly forming it into a ball and pelting Garrett hard in the leg.

 _“OW!_ ” Garrett yelled, rubbing his leg. “That hurt!”

“Garrett… _did you forget what I do for a living?_ ” Anders shouted, already forming another ball.

“Oh, _FUCK_ ,” Garrett screamed, sliding wildly as he attempted to run away. “I forgot! I’m sorry!”

“Too late now, love. You started it,” Anders laughed, throwing another ball (softer, this time) and hitting him in the back.

“Unfair advantage, unfair advantage!” Garrett was shrieking, running in the other direction. He managed to scoop up some snow on the run, packing it together as he got hit in the arm by another snowy fastball.

He lobbed his snowball at Anders, just barely missing his leg. Anders threw the next one, grinning, the ball coming straight for Garrett’s shoulder when a large mass blocked his sight.

Woofy came leaping forward, snatching the snowball out of the air and breaking it in his mouth. He stopped and bent forward, tongue out and butt wagging in the air while he waited for the next one to be thrown.

Garrett and Anders exchanged a look before bursting into laughter. Woofy hopped between the two of them, barking and wagging his tail.

“He’s so impatient,” Garrett laughed, grabbing some more snow. He tossed it in the air, Woofy catching it easily.

“Like dog, like owner,” Anders replied, shaking his head. He also had another ball formed and tossed it in the opposite direction.

They stayed like that for a while, lobbing balls in the air for Woofy to catch or chase, and throwing the occasional surprise at each other.

Garrett was chasing after Woofy, running circles around the yard when he suddenly slipped and fell into a deep pile of snow off to the side.

“Don’t worry!” came the muffled call as Anders walked over. “My coat is waterproof.”

Anders looked down at his very large boyfriend, sunken into the snow like a rock, and bit his lip to hold back a laugh.

“My pants aren’t though,” Garrett grimaced, struggling to get up. “My ass is freezing.”

Anders extended a hand to help Garrett up when he was suddenly yanked forward, landing on him with a quiet _oof_.

“Hi there,” Garrett murmured, grinning at Anders’ scowling face. He wrapped his arms around Anders’ squirming body, holding him in place.

“Garrett, it’s _cold_ ,” Anders said through gritted teeth. “If you want me to writhe around on top of you, let’s at least go back inside.”

Garrett tightened his hold, inclining his head slightly to capture Anders’ lips with his own. The kiss was gentle at first but slowly increased in intensity as Anders let his body relax and melt against Garrett’s.

He finally pulled back, catching his breath as he gazed down at Garrett’s flushed face and half-closed eyes.

“Want to finish this inside?”

“Yes,” Garrett replied hoarsely, allowing himself to be pulled up.

Woofy entered first, Garrett and Anders stumbling in behind him. As soon as the door was shut Garrett was pressed against it, Anders’ lips on his own once more. Anders tore his own coat off and began fumbling with Garrett’s, finally taking it off his arms.

Garrett moaned into the kiss, unencumbered arms now encircling Anders’ body and pulling him close. Anders’ hands snaked up Garrett’s sides and over to his chest, grabbing fistfuls of the fabric and tugging.

“I think you need to get out of these clothes,” Anders purred into his ear.

Garrett nodded wordlessly and walked towards the bedroom, peeling his shirt off in the process. He glanced over his shoulder to see Anders staring, mouth slightly open as he took in the sight.

“Coming?” Garrett smirked, turning the corner as Anders caught up.

“No, but you will be soon.”

He slammed the door behind him and was on his knees immediately, fingers tugging at the zipper on Garrett’s pants.

“Anders…” Garrett groaned. “You don’t have t—“

Anders stood, having successfully unbuttoned – but not removed – Garrett’s pants, and pointed towards the bed.

“Take them off and lie down.”

Garrett removed the rest of his clothing and reclined on his back, head propped up with a couple of pillows as he watched Anders slowly strip out of his own. They were both half hard, Anders stroking his cock as he crawled onto the bed.

“Roll over.”

Garrett obeyed, propping his ass up slightly off of the bed. Anders leaned forward, spreading Garrett’s legs wide before dipping down and flicking his tongue against his sac.

“ _Fuck_ , Anders, don’t tease,” Garrett groaned, straining to see what was happening behind him.

Anders only chuckled quietly, hands pulling Garrett’s cheeks apart and tongue darting out again to lick a slow circle around his hole. Garrett let out a loud gasp, fingers clutching the sheets on either side of him.

Anders continued his slow assault, lapping gently at his hole just enough to drive Garrett mad.

“Please, love…please, just fuck me,” he begged, pushing himself back as he strained for more contact.

“So impatient,” Anders murmured, sitting up and pressing two fingers to Garrett’s lips. Garrett eagerly took them, moaning and closing his eyes as he let his tongue trace the digits as he sucked.

Anders’ other hand gripped Garrett’s hip tightly as he resisted the urge to give up his teasing and just fuck his lover properly. He took his fingers back quickly before he could change his mind, returning to his previous position.

One finger pressed gently to Garrett’s opening, entering just enough to open him a little wider.

“Yes, fuck yes, _hurry_ ,” Garrett panted, rocking his hips back.

Anders teased, running the tip of his finger around the area before pressing the tip inside once more. Garrett stretched forward, grabbing the lube from the table and throwing it over his shoulder.

“Not yet, love,” Anders chuckled softly, spreading his ass once more as his tongue returned. He lapped more eagerly this time, licking long strokes from his balls up to the cleft and back before concentrating on the slightly-opened hole. He let his tongue run slow circles around the entrance, one hand reaching down to grab Garrett’s cock and giving it a few sharp tugs.

“Fuck, more like that,” Garrett gasped, pupils blown wide as he glanced at his lover over his shoulder.

“Want it a bit rough today, hmmm?” Anders asked, biting one cheek just enough to sting. Garrett let out another brief shout, nodding his head.

“Fingers…” he said, eyes locked on Anders’ hand.

Anders shook his head, still firmly planted between his rear, as Garrett let out a ragged breath.

“Just…fuck me,” Garrett growled, pushing himself with even more intensity against Anders’ tongue. “I don’t want to wait.”

“Whatever you want, love,” Anders chuckled. He sat back, running a finger where his tongue had been moments before.

“Yes,” Garrett panted. “Spread me open…fuck, love, I need your cock.”

“So. Damn. Impatient,” Anders groaned, head dipping back between his legs.

“Not tha—ah, _FUCK_ ,” Garrett howled as the tip of Anders’ tongue pushed its way inside.

Anders’ tongue continued to work the area, dipping in and out of the tight hole while his hand snaked back down and began fondling his balls. Garrett had his face buried into the pillow, trying to muffle his moans of pleasure. His hips were moving jaggedly on their own, rocking in time with Anders’ tongue and hand.

Anders pulled back abruptly, panting, looking down at Garrett, who turned to look at him as well. He said nothing, reaching over to grab the condom and lube and coating them both liberally while Garrett rolled over, grabbing the back of his knees and opening himself wider.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Anders breathed reverently. “You don’t know how gorgeous you look.”

He ran his hand down one of Garrett’s legs, pausing to brace himself as the other hand lined his dick up with Garrett’s ass. He leaned over, pressing a small kiss to the other leg before slowly working his way inside.

Garrett’s back arched once again, loud whimpers escaping his mouth as Anders eased in.

“Okay, love?” Anders panted, sweat breaking out on his forehead from the restraint.

“Faster,” Garrett grunted, trying to force his hips forward.

“Sure?”

“ _Yes._ Fuck Anders, you know I can take it,” Garrett cried.

Anders restraint broke. He gripped Garrett’s hips, plunging the rest of the way in in one sharp, quick motion. His low moan was drowned out by the loud, “ _FUCK, Anders, fuck me!”_ that came from Garrett.

He leaned his body over Garrett’s, placing his hands on either side of his chest as Garrett rested both legs on Anders’ shoulders.

“Just like that, love,” Anders moaned, hips driving forward at a frantic pace, making Garrett’s entire body shake with every movement. “You’re so…fucking… _tight_.”

Anders' head dropped down, eyes trained on his cock disappearing into Garrett with every thrust.

Garrett had one arm curled around the pillow under his head, the other moving down to roughly stroke his cock. Anders became distracted, moving his eyes between his own cock and Garrett’s hand. He straightened up, taking Garrett’s legs off of his shoulder and holding them out to the side for a better viewing angle, never breaking his rhythm.

“Fuck, Garrett,” he panted. “You don’t know how much I love watching you touch yourself.”

Garrett choked out a laugh. “I’m pretty sure I do.”

His other hand moved from the pillow to cup his balls, moving his hands faster as Anders’ thrusts became more erratic. His eyes never left Anders’ face, biting his lip as the other man’s eyes flicked back and forth from Garrett’s eyes to his cock.

“I’m not going to last much longer,” Garrett grunted, thrusting up into his hand as Anders continued to pump into him.

“Come for me, love,” Anders moaned, fingers digging into Garrett’s legs. “I want to see you come all over yourself.”

Garrett’s mouth dropped open as he shut his eyes, hand flying over his cock as he stroked himself harder. The groan started low in his throat, increasing in volume as he began to writhe under his own touch.

“Anders…” he said through gritted teeth. “ _Fuck_ …harder…I’m going to—“

With a strangled cry, Garrett came, spurting thick ropes of come across his hand and chest. Anders leaned forward, Garrett meeting him halfway as their lips met and Anders’ hips jerked once, twice more before he came, moaning into Garrett’s mouth.

They remained that way, silently catching their breath before Garrett nudged Anders with his knee.

“I can’t feel this leg,” he complained, stretching it out next to him. Anders laughed, collapsing onto his side on the bed. Garrett cleaned them both quickly before looking at Anders with a sleepy smile.

“I’m cold.”

Anders chuckled, pulling the blankets over them both as Garrett scooted over into his arms. He brushed Garrett’s hair to the side, leaning over to plant a quick kiss on his neck as the other man sighed contentedly.

“And I’m tired. I think we earned a nap.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was one of my personal favorites, mainly for the first (i.e. non-smutty) half. I remember giggling out loud when I wrote the snowball fight. Garrett, just...*sigh* You silly man. 
> 
> I also hope this smut tides everyone over for a bit, cause we're back to fluff for the next 3 or 4 chapters, I think.
> 
> As usual, I love every single kudos/comment/reblog/like/WHATEVER, so thank you all so much and I'm so happy you're all enjoying this so far <3


	6. Hot tea and cozy sweaters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anders decides they should get into the holiday spirit with a movie marathon. Garrett agrees, but with a couple conditions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: T - for implied sex, I guess. Idk, but there's nothing really bad. This is 99% fluff.

Anders woke up early. _Too_ early for his tastes. Garrett was still soundly asleep next to him, one bare arm clutching the blankets as he slept. Anders glanced at the clock, seeing it read 4 am, and he groaned silently to himself. He was too awake to go back to sleep right away, so he slipped out of bed and padded into the guest bathroom so he didn’t wake Garrett.

He stopped to look out of the picture window on the way back, pulling aside the curtains to see if it had snowed any more during the night. They were hoping to drive downtown as soon as they felt Garrett’s car could handle the roads.

The snow was falling lightly outside, barely-there flakes that could easily be mistaken for old snow blown around by the wind. It was calm and quiet in the early morning light, and Anders took the opportunity to put on his boots and coat and stand out front, taking in the scene ahead of him.

It wasn’t quite the same as Ferelden, where he would be looking upon miles and miles of rolling hills and trees. The parking lot of Garrett’s building didn’t really have the same effect, although he did live across the street from a wooded lot.

He stood leaning against the doorframe, taking a deep breath of the frigid air and letting it fill his lungs, feeling a deep contentment in his body.

Things were good. Better than good. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been this happy and at peace with himself and his life. A small pang of guilt hit him at the thought, but he pushed it away, refusing to let it consume his thoughts as it had threatened to in the past. Now was not the time to think about the past when the future was inside, curled up under his blankets and probably dreaming about a house full of puppies.

Anders smiled, running his fingers through his hair, now damp from the snow. If anyone had told him a year ago that this would be his life right now, he would have laughed in their face. A nearly perfect season with his new team. Reunited with his best friend. Making Kirkwall his new home and being here for their biggest snowfall in recorded history.

And Garrett. Mostly Garrett.

 _I don’t deserve this_.

It had been a fight to get to where they were now, and they were both admittedly still working through some of their issues. But Karl was still fresh in his mind, even so many years later, and he never thought he would have that kind of happiness ever again.

“Hell really did freeze over,” he mused, looking around the lot.

The door opened quietly behind him, a very sleepy and disoriented Garrett standing there shirtless and in bare feet, blinking at him with confusion.

“What’re you doin’?” he yawned, scratching his head. “Something wrong?”

Anders looked at him fondly before shaking his head.

“Everything’s absolutely perfect. Let’s go back to bed.”

* * *

They woke for good several hours later. Anders’ pleasant mood remained, however, and he jumped out of bed before Garrett and made his way to the kitchen to start breakfast.

Garrett joined him several minutes later, running a hand down his back as Anders laid bacon across the pan.

“You sure you’re okay, love?” he asked quietly.

Anders smiled, giving Garrett a small peck on the lips.

“More than fine,” he replied. “Breakfast will be ready in a bit if you want to take a quick shower.”

“Mmm…I might wait for you,” Garrett said, sliding his hand down the back of Anders’ pajama pants, causing the other man to laugh. “But I do need to let Woofy out, so I’ll be back.”

Anders grinned, mixing the pancake batter. They usually had a quick meal of coffee and maybe some toast (well, Garrett usually had about three bowls of cereal) but he wanted to treat his boyfriend this morning. He deserved it.

Garrett returned a bit later, Woofy trotting behind, right as Anders finished placing the rest of the food on plates.

“Want help?” Garrett asked, surveying the food resting on the center island.

“You can pour the coffee if you want,” Anders said, reaching into the drawer for some silverware.

Garrett already had two pieces of bacon in his mouth before Anders even sat down. He helped himself to some food, keenly aware of Garrett’s eyes on him as he chewed.

“So,” Garrett began. “What’s the occasion?”

“Can’t I do something nice for my boyfriend?” Anders teased.

“You just being here is nice,” Garrett scoffed, taking a sip of his coffee. “This snow is spoiling me, letting me steal you for this long.”

Anders felt the blush rising to his cheeks and he turned away, stuffing a large piece of pancake in his mouth.

“Are you _blushing_?” Garrett exclaimed. “Why are you blushing!”

“God, Garrett,” Anders laughed. “I just wanted to make you breakfast. There’s no ulterior motive, I swear.”

He paused, smiling at the skepticism on Garrett’s face.

“And I was thinking…” he continued, somewhat hesitantly. “That you were right, and I should get more into the holiday spirit. Do you want to…I don’t know, maybe sit around and watch Christmas movies all day?”

Garrett’s face lit up.

“Seriously?”

“You _do_ have some movies, right?” Anders asked innocently, trying not to laugh as Garrett practically bounced out of his seat.

“SO many!” he grinned around a mouthful of food.

“Okay then,” Anders chuckled. “Let’s make a day out of it. Get into some comfy clothes, curl up on the couch with some blankets and maybe something hot to drink?”

He trailed off, eating another forkful of food. Garrett smiled even wider, fidgeting in excitement in his seat.

“I haven’t done this in so long,” he sighed happily. “This is going to be so much fun.”

Anders felt another wave of happiness fill his chest. He had known Garrett loved Christmas, but just _how much_ he hadn’t realized until this past week. And since Garrett didn’t usually allow Anders to spoil him, well…this was his chance to do so in a roundabout way. He wanted this entire day to be about making Garrett happy.

Garrett tried to clean up the plates, but Anders shooed him away, telling him to go find the movies and get the couch ready. Garrett nodded cheerfully and left the room.

“Love? I’m going to jump in the shower real fast before we start, okay?” Anders called, wiping his hands on the dishrag. He received no answer.

“Garrett?”

Anders walked into the bedroom to see his boyfriend standing next to the bed, hands on his hips as he surveyed the clothing laid out before him.

“Love, what are…what the _hell_ are those?”

Garrett looked up at him and grinned.

“Christmas sweaters, what do they look like?”

“They _look_ like a nightmare. You aren’t serious.”

“We have to wear them,” Garrett nodded solemnly. “It’s the rules.”

“Nope,” Anders shook his head in horror, making his way to the bathroom. “Those things are _hideous_ , Garrett.”

“Like anyone is going to see us,” Garrett said, stepping in between Anders and the bathroom door. “It’ll be fun.”

“Those things are the literal opposite of fun. Please don't tell me you go to ugly sweater parties too...”

Garrett nodded. "Fenris throws them."

Anders stared at him blankly in horror until Garrett couldn't hold in his laughter anymore. 

"I'm joking!" he choked. "I do have my limits, you know."

"Do you?" Anders asked skeptically, glancing at the clothing once more. "I'm not convinced."

“But…” Garrett put on his most pitiful face. It got Anders every time, and this was no different. “If you wear one, I promise to take it off of you later.”

Anders laughed. “You would do that with anything, love. Still no deal.”

“I’ll let you take mine off, too.”

Anders shook his head, trying to nudge Garrett out of the way, but Garrett didn’t move.

“I’ll do something for you,” Garrett sighed, flopping his arms down at his side. “What do you want?”

Garrett looked so disappointed. Anders rubbed the bridge of his nose, thinking, before reaching out and pinching Garrett’s side, causing him to laugh and move over. Anders took the opportunity to slip past him and into the bathroom.

“I’ll do it, but you can never breathe a _word_ about this to anyone,” he warned, turning on the water.

“Deal,” Garrett grinned. “You ah…want some help washing your back?”

Anders smirked as he pulled off his shirt.

“Well, since you offered…”

* * *

One long shower and two orgasms later, the pair sat on the couch, donned in the most horrific tacky sweaters Anders had ever seen. He had made a pot of tea and had just finished pouring them each a cup when Garrett plopped down a stack of DVDs on the coffee table in front of them.

“Okay,” Garrett said, looking at Anders expectantly. “I’ll let you pick the first one.”

Anders began sorting through the pile. A lot of the titles were familiar, although he hadn’t seen most of them in many years. One caught his eye, however.

“Garrett,” he asked, holding up the case. “Why is _How to Train Your Dragon_ in here?”

“Oh,” Garrett laughed nervously, taking it from him. “I ah, have no idea how that got in the pile. Just ignore it.”

Anders gave him a smirk before resuming his search, eventually sighing in frustration.

“Are all of these _really_ considered Christmas movies?” he asked, holding _Die Hard_ in one hand and _Gremlins_ in the other.

“Yes,” Garrett said firmly, nodding his head. “They take place at Christmas, so they’re Christmas movies.”

“Not…exactly what I was aiming for when I suggested this,” Anders chuckled.

He finally settled on _A Christmas Story_ (“I want a _real_ Christmas movie, Garrett”) and they settled back into the couch with their tea. Anders pulled his half of the blanket a little higher to hide as much of his glittering, flashing sweater as possible.

They remained that way – several cups of tea and many cookies later – for the rest of the day.

By the evening Garrett was curled up on Anders’ shoulder, Woofy lying at his feet. Anders looked over at his boyfriend, placing a small kiss on his forehead and receiving a sleepy smile in return.

“Was it a good day?” Garrett yawned.

“Wonderful,” Anders whispered, planting another kiss on his head. “Blindingly hideous sweaters and all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to imagine as soon as Anders agrees to wear the sweater he just sort of sighs internally and resigns himself to the fact that he's in way too deep lol.
> 
> And thank you all again for the lovely responses and encouragement, it makes me really happy how much you're enjoying these :) If you're not already following me on [ tumblr](http://draco-illius-noctis.tumblr.com/) feel free to drop by and say hi!


	7. Giving subtle hints of what one would like to get for Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Garrett" and "subtle" don't really go well together, but at least he tried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: G - more silliness and fluff, but a short one today

Anders should have picked up on the first sign the day before.

 _How to Train Your Dragon_ was not remotely a Christmas movie, yet there it was, mixed in with the rest. He didn’t think twice about it though, too distracted by the other seemingly non-Christmas-related movies in the pile.

Then the movie just _happened_ to be left on the coffee table that morning, while the rest had been put away the night before. He found it odd but assumed Garrett was either planning on watching it later or was putting it away separately.

Anders came across Garrett himself later that morning, lying on the floor next to Woofy, cooing silly things at the dog.

“You’re such a good boy, do you know that?” Garrett murmured, scratching him behind the ears. “Wouldn’t it be so cool if you had wings? You would be such a good Toothless. And I could be Hiccup since I want to be a dragon, too.”

He paused, glancing at Anders out of the corner of his eye before leaning closer to Woofy.

“Anders can be Astrid,” he whispered loudly.

Anders grabbed his laptop and sat down in one of the chairs without saying a word, amused smirk on his face. Garrett rolled onto his back, craning his neck to look at Anders upside down.

“I was just thinking what a shame it was that we didn’t dress Woofy up like Toothless for Halloween this year. He would have been perfect.”

Anders raised an eyebrow at Garrett. “I don’t know what a toothless is, but Woofy has plenty of teeth.”

“ _WHAT!_ _”_ Garrett exclaimed, rolling over so fast he nearly flung himself into the side of the couch. “You don’t know who Toothless is?”

“…No?”

“Oh my _GOD_ , Anders!” Garrett yelled in disbelief. “ _How_ have you never seen _How to Train Your Dragon_? It’s a classic!”

Garrett’s eyes were very wide, his breath coming in erratic bursts. Anders was starting to get worried.

“I don’t watch a lot of movies, love. You know that.”

“Yeah, but…” Garrett’s hand started slapping aimlessly on the coffee table, no doubt searching for the DVD case that he had left there last night. He finally turned around, seeing it resting near the TV instead.

“We’re going to watch this,” he said firmly. “And then we’re going to watch the second one. There’s no way you won’t think of Woofy when you see Toothless.”

Anders sighed, shaking his head. It wasn’t like they had anything better to do that day…but he didn’t think he’d be spending it learning about an animated dragon.  He said nothing, though.

Garrett spent almost the entire movie gushing over how awesome and adorable Toothless was, including several times when he had to tell Woofy to watch as well. To “learn how to dragon,” as he put it. Anders had to admit the dragon was adorable…and very Woofy-esque. But he still didn’t understand Garrett’s obsession.

After the first movie had finished (and after Anders had reassured Garrett several times that he loved it) Garrett decided to take Woofy outside to play in the snow.

“Let me guess,” Anders smirked. “Going to train your dragon?”

Garrett blinked at him.

“When you say it, it sounds like it should be something sexual.”

Anders groaned, rolling his eyes even though he smiled.

“Anders, would you like to train my dragon?” Garrett asked innocently.

“Get the hell out of here,” Anders laughed. “I’ll make us some lunch while you’re outside being weird.”

Anders decided to take a shower first and was in the middle of making them grilled cheese sandwiches when Garrett came back inside.

“Lunch is almost ready, love,” Anders called.

“Okay, just checking my email real fast,” Garrett yelled from the living room.

They ate, Garrett telling Anders about Bethany’s latest texts. Apparently, she and Carver had already decorated their house (“Carver helped!” Bethany had said. “Carver _never_ helps, that’s how bored he was!”) and were now engaged in a heated competition of Dance, Dance Revolution. The idea of Carver dancing was enough to make Garrett double over in laughter.

Anders let Garrett do the cleaning this time while he got ready for the second movie. Once he got in the living room, he noticed Garrett had left his laptop open on the couch. Open to a picture of a very, very large Toothless stuffed animal. Anders squinted, looking at the price.

“Does that _really_ say $250?” he muttered to himself.

Garrett chose that moment to walk into the room.

“Oh!” he said casually. “Did I leave my laptop in your way? Sorry, love. I was so excited for your delicious cooking.”

He took the laptop, making sure he flashed the screen at Anders one more time before closing it and placing it on the table. He gave his boyfriend a kiss on the head and one of his most charming smiles before sitting next to him.

“Garrett??” Anders began with a wry smile. “Do you really want a five-foot-long dragon toy for Christmas?”

“ _Dragon toy_?” Garrett gasped. “How dare you imply it’s _just_ some random dragon. Also, maybe.”

Anders sighed, rubbing his face.

“And what exactly are you going to do with a stuffed animal the size of a small person?”

“I hadn’t gotten that far yet.”

“Garrett…” Anders groaned. “You have nowhere to put something that big.”

“He can stay on my bed. You don’t sleep over every night and I need something to cuddle,” he pouted.

Anders chose to ignore that comment, wrapping his arm around Garrett’s shoulder instead. He pulled Garrett close, giving him a small kiss before turning his attention back to the TV.

“You have a dog. You don’t need a fake one.”

Garrett shot him a hurt look, which he quickly tried to cover by leaning over to grab the remote. Anders felt a slight pang of guilt, even though he knew Garrett was being completely absurd, but Garrett didn’t bring up the subject again.

* * *

Later that night, while Garrett was outside with Woofy, Anders finally had the chance to pull up the site on his own computer. He sighed as he input his credit card number, still somewhat in disbelief that _this_ was what his boyfriend was getting for Christmas.

But it wasn’t until a few minutes later that he realized just how deep he was in, buying a smaller version of the toy for himself, to remind him of Garrett when they were apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't deny that I am very much Garrett in this chapter. And if you haven't seen HTTYD then you're missing out cause it's perfect and I want to adopt every single dragon. 
> 
> What do you think Garrett is going to get Anders, hmmmm? *raises eyebrows*
> 
> And thank you, as usual, for all the love <3


	8. Picking out the right Christmas tree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are finally able to leave the house, and Garrett only has one thing on his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: T, for implied sex

Garrett heard the first plow drive by in the middle of the night, the noise resounding throughout the apartment. He woke up with a jolt, positive Kirkwall was experiencing its first earthquake on top of the snowstorm, and only relaxed when he saw Woofy still curled up on his bed.

Anders was breathing steadily next to him, mouth slightly open and one hand clutching the edge of Garrett’s pillow. Checking the roads could wait until morning. He doubted anything would actually be open, but he and Anders had been aching to get back into civilization.

_How people live like this every year, I don’t know_ , he thought, rolling onto his side and back to sleep. As much as he was enjoying the snow, he needed to stretch his figurative legs a bit.

The next time he awoke, Anders was already out of bed and in the shower. Torn between joining him and staying under the covers, he decided to let Woofy out and check the status of the roads instead.

To his delight, the parking lot – and street – appeared to be clear, huge mountains of snow piled on either side. In fact, the snow piles were so huge they completely obstructed anything surrounding them. The only reason Garrett could see the road beyond was due to a small gap in the hills.

Satisfied, he let Woofy inside and then proceeded to crawl back in bed to wait for Anders to get done his shower.

Anders walked out a few minutes later, towel very loosely hanging around his waist as he rubbed another through his hair.

“We’re out of towels, love,” Anders said off-handedly. “We should do laundry today.”

“Nope.” Garrett grinned at the confused look on Anders’ face. He held out his arms, still half-reclined in bed. Anders took a few hesitating steps towards him, giving him a suspicious glance.

“We’re not fucking all day again, Garrett,” he smirked. “Wow, I can’t believe I just said that…”

“Not what I meant,” Garrett snorted, gesturing for Anders to come closer. “The roads are clear. We can finally go out!”

Anders’ eyebrows shot up at the news, enough of a distraction for Garrett to yank his towel off and pull him on top of his body.

“You smell good,” Garrett murmured, planting a small kiss on his shoulder.

“We should stop by the grocery store first,” Anders purred as Garrett lightly ran his fingers down his bare back.

“We should get a Christmas tree.”

Anders looked at him with a mixture of amusement and disbelief.

“Well, I know where _your_ priorities are,” he chuckled, ducking his head to give Garrett a kiss. The kiss turned into two, which turned into three. Anders finally sat up, straddling Garrett’s legs with his semi-erect cock noticeably on display.

“Maybe we can spare a few minutes,” he moaned as Garrett began stroking him. “Get us relaxed for the day.”

* * *

As they had expected, very, very few places were actually open. Most of the chain stores were open – sort of – with skeleton crews inside. They stocked up on groceries and other necessities and were on their way back to the apartment when Garrett brought up the idea of the tree again.

“We should stop,” he suggested. “This is the perfect time! No one will be out looking…we’ll have our pick.”

Anders gave him a look.

“Do you realize how deep the snow is going to be around those trees? I’m not stomping through that in my normal clothes.”

Garrett coughed out a laugh, glancing at Anders out of the corner of his eye.

“Well…I may have packed our snow boots and stuff. Just, you know, in the event we needed them.”

Anders stared at Garrett incredulously, the other man pointedly keeping his eyes on the road although a small smile played on his lips.

“Alright,” Anders finally said, shaking his head. “Just remember you need to drive this thing home…so try not to pick something that will make it even harder to get there.”

Garrett gave him a wounded look.

“You’re helping!” he exclaimed. “This is _our_ Christmas tree.”

Anders opened his mouth to respond, but quickly shut it, silenced by an unexpected fluttering in his stomach.

_Ours_.

There was that word again. He looked out of the window, willing the butterflies in his stomach to calm down before he spoke.

“I mean, it doesn’t _have_ to be,” Garrett said nervously, shaking Anders from his thoughts. “You can just help me carry it to the car or whatever…”

Anders reached over and squeezed Garrett’s knee, smiling softly.

“No, I want to help.”

Garrett grinned in relief and turned into the tree lot. The majority of the lights were turned out, but the ones inside the tiny sales office were on. Garrett parked out front and told Anders he could wait in the car while he checked to see if anyone was there.

He exited a minute later, grinning and giving Anders a thumbs up. They put on their boots and bundled up a little tighter, and began the trek into the field of trees.

“Okay, so,” Garrett exhaled, a cloud of smoke briefly covering his face. “We want a tree that’s tall, but not _too_ tall. And it should be wide…but I don’t know where we should put it this year. I usually move Woofy’s bed out of the corner, but you can pick a different spot if you want.”

He kept babbling, absentmindedly touching trees as they walked down the rows. Anders smiled at his boyfriend’s back, not having the heart to interrupt the excited rambling.

Garrett finally paused, turning to look at Anders.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“I think you’re adorable when you’re this wound up.”

Garrett scoffed, but smiled bashfully, looking away.

“That wasn’t the question,” he chuckled. “I asked if you saw any you liked.”

Anders glanced around and began walking slowly amongst the trees, examining them as he passed.

“What about one of these?” he said, gesturing towards a small, full clump.

Garrett nodded and plowed forward, pushing his way past the branches, standing in the middle so he could examine the other sides. But he remained quiet.

“Well?” Anders finally asked.

“I got sap in my hair. It’s stuck to my beard.”

“Oh for God’s sake…” Anders muttered to himself.

He pushed the branches a bit to the side and gestured for Garrett to come out.

“I like this one,” Anders said without distinguishing which one he meant. Garrett came ambling out, gesturing to the tree on his right.

“This one?”

Anders nodded, biting his lip in an effort not to laugh. Garrett had a large chunk of his hair plastered to his cheek from the sap.

“I can see you laughing at me, you know,” Garrett sighed, making a note of the tag on the tree.

They made their way back – Anders talking to the manager this time to spare Garrett the embarrassment – paid for the tree and tied it to the top of Garrett’s car. The ride home was precarious, but they made it in one piece and managed to get the tree inside without incident.

“Let’s just put the lights on tonight,” Garrett yawned. “I want to see how they look. We can do the rest tomorrow.”

Anders couldn’t remember the last time he had decorated a tree. Even when he was with Karl they had never done anything so…intimate. That was the only word he could think of to describe this. Garrett glanced over at him every once in a while - small, happy smile on his face. Anders knew he was checking to see if he was having a good time, and Anders made sure to give him a smile in return.

They finished quickly, and Garrett ran to turn the lights off so they could see their handiwork. The room was bathed in a soft glow, the light dancing off of the walls as they watched.

_It’s really starting to feel like Christmas_ , Anders thought. _When was the last time I looked forward to Christmas?_

Garrett excused himself and Anders set to work spreading out the tree skirt and vacuuming up any errant pine needles on the floor. Woofy saw the skirt and promptly plopped himself down on top of it, curling up under the tree as if he belonged there.

“Hey,” he heard a soft voice say behind him.

Anders turned to see Garrett holding two mugs in his hand, one extended towards him. It was filled with hot tea and honey.

“Let’s just sit and look for a while,” Garrett murmured, grabbing a blanket from the couch with his free hand. “I want to enjoy our first tree together.”

They settled down with their backs against the closest chair, tucking the blanket around their legs and sipping their tea in silence as they gazed at the tree. Woofy snored silently from his corner, completely oblivious to the moment happening around him.

Anders reached over, entwining his arm with Garrett’s and resting his head on his shoulder. He could hear the other man let out a quiet, contented sigh, snuggling closer as they gazed at the tree.

“This is perfect,” Garrett murmured sleepily, giving Anders a small kiss on the head.

“It really is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's some sap for you, and for you, and for you... Oh look, I made a pun (poor beard). 
> 
> Hope you enjoy <3


	9. Decoration wars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrett decides it's the perfect day to hang the outside decorations and enlists Anders' help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: T, for innuendo *eyebrow wiggle*

The box of ornaments had remained in the corner of the living room, shoved aside after the rest of the indoor decorations had been hung, waiting for the tree to arrive. Which is where Anders found Garrett after he exited the shower that morning.

“Should we do the tree or outside first?” Garrett mused, half to himself and half to Anders. Or Woofy. Anders could never be sure.

Anders walked into the kitchen to make some coffee, leaving Garrett to ponder his plans for the day. It was sunny and beautiful outside – albeit still freezing - and Anders was secretly pleased that Garrett had an end unit, which allowed him to gaze out of the kitchen window.

He wondered how much longer he would remain here until he ran out of excuses to go back to his own apartment. His cold, Garrett-less apartment. Garrett didn’t seem like he was ready to kick him out, but he didn’t want to overstay his welcome.

He was in mid-thought, trying to decide how to broach the subject when strong arms encircled him from behind.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Garrett teased, nuzzling his beard into Anders’ neck.

Anders laughed, elbowing him lightly. Garrett only burrowed more, nibbling the side of his neck as Anders laughed harder, struggling to free himself.

“What…what was the question?” Anders asked, gasping for air. Garrett chuckled behind him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Do you think we should decorate outside first? Or the tree? I want to take advantage of the sun and the fact that it’s not snowing. For now.”

Anders twisted slightly to look at Garrett’s face, small smile on his lips.

“Decorating is serious business, huh?” he smirked. “Are you sure you don’t want that to be your job instead of baking?”

Garrett scoffed, letting Anders go and grabbing two mugs from the cabinet.

“ _Only_ for Christmas,” he insisted. “You see what this place looks like the rest of the year.”

Anders nodded in agreement, although he still found it hilarious (and adorable) how intense Garrett was this time of year.

“Well, I would say outside now,” Anders began, taking the mugs from Garrett. “While it’s daytime. We can decorate the tree whenever.”

“’We’?” Garrett grinned, leaning on the counter next to him. “Are you saying you’re going to help?”

Anders blushed slightly, pouring the coffee.

“Well, it _is_ our tree, isn’t it?” he asked. “It’d be rude not to help.”

Garrett didn’t reply, looking at him fondly as he took his mug.

“Want to help outside, too?” Garrett asked a few moments later.

“Sure, I guess,” Anders shrugged. “What do you even do? Throw a wreath on the door?”

Garrett gasped in horror, coffee sloshing out of the side of his mug as he placed it on the counter. Anders looked at him in confusion.

“Do I look like the type of person who just _hangs a wreath?_ ” Garrett asked.

“…No?”

“The decorations would have been up a week ago if it hadn’t snowed,” he pouted. “Not that I’m complaining about the snow.”

Anders sipped his coffee, turning again to look out the window.

“Let’s make it a game!” Garrett shouted.

“What—“

“Okay, so here’s what we’ll do,” Garrett continued excitedly. “Let’s each come up with a design for the front of the apartment. I have a _ton_ of decorations still sitting in the storage closet outside. Whoever comes up with the best design wins a prize.”

“Does the prize involve sex?” Anders smirked.

Garrett scoffed again, rolling his eyes.

“The prize can be whatever the winner decides it is,” he said impatiently. “That’s not the point! The point is having a really awesome apartment.”

Anders just stared at him over the rim of his mug, one eyebrow raised.

“Come on!” Garrett coaxed. “What else are we going to do today? It’ll be fun!”

It _did_ sound like fun to Anders. The type of silliness they both needed and had been enjoying the last few days. But he also enjoyed watching Garrett squirm.

“Alright,” he said finally. “But I’m not very good at this kind of thing, so go easy on me.”

“YES!” Garrett exclaimed, slapping his hand on the counter. “I’m going to go get the rest of the boxes so you can look at them.”

He headed towards the back door, leaving the almost full mug of coffee behind, forgotten.

Anders smiled to himself as he finished his own, wondering what he had gotten himself into.

* * *

Garrett had insisted they go outside and study the front of the apartment, going so far as demanding Anders take a picture of his half for easy reference (“I gave you the part with the window, to make it easier,” Garrett had said). Anders rolled his eyes affectionately and went back inside to grab his phone and snap a photo of the left side of the apartment.

They began pulling out decorations from the storage closet and laying them out near the back door, Garrett making notes on a notepad the entire time. Anders assured him that he was doing the same.

“What if we want to use the same decorations?” Anders eventually asked, nudging a strand of lights with his shoe.

Garrett looked over at him with wide eyes.

“I…didn’t think of that,” he admitted. “Do you, um…what do you want to use?”

Anders had been watching Garrett more than anything and had noticed which things he seemed to be paying the most attention to.

“Just these lights here,” he said, pointing at a bundle of colored lights off to the side. “And this sleigh and ah, this…pig? Why is there a pig, love?”

Garrett grinned. “Beth and I thought it was cute, so I bought it.” He shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Whatever you say,” Anders chuckled. “But I think that’s all I need.”

Garrett looked at him skeptically but nodded.

“Alright, well…you can start whenever you want. Or you can wait for me. I’m almost finished.”

“I can wait,” Anders said, stretching. “I’ll grab our coats and things.”

A short while later they were bundled up and carrying piles of lights, wreaths and other decorations outside.

“Ready?” Garrett grinned, adjusting his gloves.

“Whenever you are.”

They both began their work, Anders purposely moving at a snail’s pace as Garrett worked frantically from the other side of the door. He could see Garrett glancing over every once in a while, as Anders made a big show of untangling his lights and laying them out in front of him, pretending to examine the area.

Garrett already had a sizeable display going amongst the plants ( _where_ Garrett found so many light-up tinsel dogs, Anders had no idea) when Anders finally began to set up his. He ran lights around the picture window and hung a wreath in between the window and the door. The sleigh – which was a decent size for a decoration – was placed under the window, nestled in with the plants. The pig he placed on the seat.

“Love?” Anders called. “I need to grab something inside real fast, I thought of one more thing to add.”

Garrett stepped back, taking in Anders’ display so far. He nodded, grinning, before going back to his own work.

Anders jogged back inside and through the back door, rummaging through the storage closet for the old poster board he saw when they were taking the decorations out earlier. Garrett had thrown a party for Beth and Carver one year at his place and made a horribly tacky sign that he placed in the front yard, telling everyone which apartment was his. Which was unnecessary, since everyone already knew which apartment he lived in. It was more for their embarrassment than anything else.

He brought it back inside, grabbing a magic marker from the drawer in the kitchen. He had no idea why Garrett had held on to the sign to begin with, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t mind that Anders borrowed it for the occasion.

“Anders?” he heard Garrett call from the doorway a few minutes later. “I’m done…are you ready?”

“One second,” Anders yelled back, throwing the marker hastily back in the drawer. “Go on back out, I’ll be right there.”

Anders waited until he heard the door shut, then made his way outside, carefully hiding the sign from Garrett’s view until it was in position. He stepped back, admiring his work with a small smile before walking over to where Garrett was waiting.

“Finished?” Garrett grinned, looping his arm around Anders’ waist.

Anders leaned over, giving him a brief kiss.

“Mhmm,” he murmured, turning to look at Garrett’s handiwork. He had a mini Christmas tree, complete with lights, in the center of the front garden. Four light up dogs surrounded it, complete with little hats and scarves. On the wall itself he hung three wreaths of various…intensity.

“They all light up, too,” Garrett said proudly. “The whole thing does.”

Another wreath had been hung on the front door, with a string of lights outlining the doorway. The whole thing was a bit much for Anders’ tastes.

“I held back a little this year,” Garrett sighed. “I didn’t want to make it too unfair for you.”

Anders snorted, shaking his head.

“Let’s go see what you did,” Garrett said, nudging him over.

They moved a few feet to the left, Anders not saying a word as Garrett looked it over.

“I…um…” Garrett sputtered. Anders noticed the blush rising into his face.

“Are you cold, love?” he asked innocently.

Garrett turned and gazed at him, mouth slightly agape.

“You’re…not going to keep that there, right?” he asked nervously.

“What? You don’t like it?”

Garrett turned back again, looking at the sign Anders had propped up in the sleigh. Big, bold letters read: _I can’t wait to unwrap YOU, Garrett_ , with a large present and heart in the center.

“I like…the idea,” Garrett finally said. “But I don’t know that I want everyone else to see it.”

Anders let out a dramatic sigh and went to grab the sign.

“Alright, you win,” Anders grinned. “I’ll keep my plans a secret. But I think your decorations won, anyway.”

Garrett exhaled deeply in relief, planting a quick peck on his lips before tugging him towards the door.

“I agree,” he laughed. “And you gave me the perfect idea for my reward.”

* * *

Anders sighed as Garrett carefully taped another edge of wrapping paper. They had been at this for over an hour, and a small stack of boxes now lay underneath the tree.

“Love,” Anders sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “This wasn’t exactly what I thought you had in mind when I agreed to help you.”

“I don’t know _what_ you had in mind,” Garrett replied innocently, placing a bow on top of the neatly wrapped present. “I’ve had these toys for Woofy sitting in my closet for _months_. You just reminded me that I needed to wrap them.”

He placed the box with the rest, a small pile in the back corner.

“There!” Garrett exclaimed, stepping back to examine his work. “This will look much more festive once the tree is decorated. And I buy everyone else’s gifts.”

Anders nodded in slight disinterest, thinking about what he wanted for dinner. He was about to ask Garrett for his opinion when the other man turned to look at him, eyes glinting with mischief.

He waited until he knew he had Anders’ attention, deliberately unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans, leaving them hanging open but still on his hips. Anders furrowed his brow, looking at him in confusion and interest.

Garrett stuck his hand slightly down his pants, rubbing himself a few times through his boxers…just enough for the bulge to stick out against his pants. Anders unconsciously licked his lips as his eyes flickered from Garrett’s hand to his face. Garrett grinned, stretching his arms high above his head, the gesture causing his pants to shift down slightly over his hips.

“Well, I have a couple other things I need to… _take care of_ , in the bedroom,” he said casually as he walked away. He stuck his head around the corner before disappearing into the other room.

“We can decorate the tree when I’m done.”

Anders was on his feet in seconds, sprinting into the room and slamming the door behind him as Garrett’s laugh radiated throughout the room.

“Not without me,” Anders grinned. “I did say I was going to help with _everything_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI the [ light up pig ](http://www.sears.com/sienna-28inch-pre-lit-led-outdoor-chenille-pig/p-SPM6707114901?hlSellerId=5667&sid=IDx20110310x00001i&kpid=SPM6707114901&kispla=SPM6707114901) is a real thing and it's adorable.


	10. Holding out in a snowstorm/Getting snowed in together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The previous snowstorm was nothing compared to the blizzard that hits today, and Garrett and Anders must find a way to pass the time together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: E - keeping warm sexy time

The howling wind shook the glass in the windows, startling Garrett. He took a few steps back, nearly knocking into the as-of-yet undecorated Christmas tree.

“Well, I guess they weren’t kidding,” he snorted. “ _This_ is a blizzard. And I thought the last storm was bad.”

Anders looked up from his spot on the couch, putting his book down to gaze out of the window himself.

“This does look pretty bad,” he mused, standing. “I don’t want to panic, but we should probably be ready in case the power goes out.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Garrett grimaced. “I should try to see if I can get Woofy to go outside one more time before it gets any worse.”

Anders nodded, moving towards the bedroom.

“Good idea. Go watch him, just to be safe. I’ll grab the candles and extra blankets.”

“Hey, boy!” Garrett yelled excitedly, trying to rouse the dog. “Wanna go outside and _play?_ ”

Woofy jumped up, tail wagging and tongue hanging out, looking at Garrett expectantly.

“Come on!” he said, pulling on his boots and coat. “Let’s go outside!”

He started heading towards the back door, Woofy bounding past him to get there first. Anders smiled as he walked into the kitchen, pulling out the emergency candles and matches from one of the drawers and setting them in their holders. There were several warm quilts and blankets in the hall closet, and Anders grabbed them all, dumping them into a pile on one of the chairs.

Anders heard the back door slam a few minutes later, Garrett telling Woofy to stay at the same time. He walked back to see Garrett in the laundry room rubbing Woofy down with a towel. His hair and beard were covered in snow – as was the rest of him – and he assumed Woofy came inside in a similar state.

“Rough time out there?” Anders asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe.

“It’s _insane_ ,” Garrett exclaimed. “I’ve never seen snow like this! I need a hot shower.”

“The lights flickered a few times while you were out,” Anders told him. “You should take one quick while there’s still hot water. I’m charging all our stuff.”

Garrett nodded, tossing Anders a clean towel.

“Good idea. Can you try and dry him off a bit more? I don’t want him catching a chill.”

“He’s a _dog_ , Garrett.”

“I _don’t want him catching a chill._ ” Garrett shot him a look over his shoulder as he left the room.

Anders sighed, looking over at Woofy, who was now trying to rub his back on the drying rack.

“Come here, boy,” he said reluctantly, unfolding the towel. “We don’t need Garrett yelling at both of us.”

* * *

Garrett emerged a little while later, skin pink from the hot water. The little bit Anders could see, anyway. Garrett had to be dressed in at least 3 layers. It was like cuddling a big, warm pillow when he finally joined Anders on the couch.

Anders poked his side as Garrett awkwardly swung an arm across Anders’ shoulders.

“Did you feel that?” he teased.

“Uh…yes?”

“How did you even get so many shirts on?” Anders asked incredulously, poking him again.

“I’m not sure,” Garrett admitted. “But you might have to cut me out of them. It’s kind of hard to move my arms right now.”

Anders wasn’t sure whether to laugh or sigh. He gestured for Garrett to sit forward and then straddled his legs, reaching down and grabbing the edge of his shirt in an attempt to tug the first layer off. It got stuck right around his shoulders, his arms at odd angles and the sweater covering most of Garrett’s head.

“You don’t…need…” Anders grunted, trying to free Garrett’s right arm. “All of this…”

“I’d like to get out of this sweater now,” came the muffled voice where Garrett’s head was supposed to be.

After several frustrating minutes, Anders was finally able to free Garrett from his overly bulky sweater, revealing another thin sweater and two thermal shirts underneath.

Anders opened his mouth to comment when the lights flickered and went out. The light coming through the front window was still enough that they could see, but it now looked more like dusk than early afternoon.

Garrett sighed, resting his hands on Anders’ hips.

“I wanted to make something hot to drink.”

“Such a tragedy,” Anders murmured, planting a soft kiss on his lips. “Hopefully the power won’t be out long. Want to watch a movie on your laptop?”

Garrett nodded and Anders hopped up to grab the blankets and laptop, making a small cocoon around them on the couch as they settled in. Most of the movies Garrett had on his computer were awful, but Anders let him decide on one anyway. He could always fall asleep if it was too bad. Or find other ways to steal Garrett’s attention.

The wind howled around them as they made their way through Garrett’s collection of bad fantasy movies. At one point, Woofy jumped into one of the chairs, which happened to be covered with a flannel blanket. Garrett shrugged it off (“he needs to stay warm, too”) and Anders decided it was best not to argue.

They had sandwiches for dinner, both silently wishing for something hot instead. Garrett had found a couple battery-powered lanterns to use instead of the candles, but they could barely see past the immediate glow of the light.

Anders gazed out of the front window into the blinding sheet of white before closing the curtains with a sigh.

“So much for the storm passing quickly,” he grimaced.

“Could you see anything?”

“Yeah, snow,” Anders snorted. “It looks like it’s completely covered the front porch, which means it probably covered the back porch as well. Better be careful the next time we open a door.”

Garrett rubbed his face, glancing over at the couch.

“I don’t feel like watching any more movies, love,” Garrett said apologetically. “What time is it?”

“Around 7, I think.”

“I might just…I don’t know, read in bed or something. On my iPad.”

Anders looked at him skeptically.

“Is that a euphemism for something else?”

Garrett snorted, grabbing one of the lanterns and heading into the room.

“Not _everything_ I say is about sex.”

“Right,” Anders agreed. “Sometimes it’s about food. Or dogs.”

“Exactly,” Garrett grinned, draping a couple extra blankets over the several already on his bed. He kicked off his shoes and crawled underneath, adjusting the pillows as he reclined.

“Oh,” Anders frowned. “You were serious.”

Garrett glanced at him while he waited for the tablet to turn on, but said nothing.

Anders grabbed his own tablet and trudged over to the bed, mimicking Garrett’s movements and sliding in next to him.

“Might as well get settled for the night,” he grumbled. “Nothing else to do.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed,” Garrett said, trying not to laugh. “It’s too cold to be tumbling around naked, anyway.”

Anders rolled onto his side, grinning.

“Who says we have to be naked?”

Garrett put the iPad down, looking at Anders with mock seriousness.

“Well, you see, when a man and another man want to make love, generally the—“

“I meant,” Anders clarified, “why do we have to be _completely_ naked?”

He grinned, reaching one hand under the covers to rub Garrett through his pants.

“Why not just the important parts?”

Garrett bit back a groan as he involuntarily bucked into Anders’ hand.

“I guess…you have a point,” he choked out, placing one hand over Anders’ to rub harder. “Although _all_ of my parts are important parts.”

Anders chuckled lightly, shifting so he was leaning over Garrett. He pulled his hand free to undo Garrett’s pants, sliding them down to his knees a moment later.

“That still doesn’t give a whole lot of movement,” Garrett said doubtfully, kicking one leg.

“It’s enough,” Anders said. “Now roll over.”

Garrett paused momentarily before pulling the rest of his clothes off.

“We’ll warm ourselves up.”

Anders grinned and tugged his shirt off before nudging him to move once more.

Garrett rolled onto his stomach, repositioning the pillow under his head as Anders reached into the drawer to grab the condom and lube.

“This is nearly empty, by the way,” Anders said, wiggling the bottle in front of Garrett’s face.

“You say that like I don’t have more sitting in the bathroom,” he snorted. “Maybe if _someone_ wasn’t always up my ass…literally…”

He felt a firm slap on his right ass cheek, crying out slightly in surprise.

“Be good,” Anders teased, unzipping his own pants and pulling them down.

“Will you smack the other one if I’m not?”

Anders smacked the other side, this time pulling a groan from Garrett instead.

“All you have to go is ask, love,” Anders purred, sitting back and spreading Garrett’s legs slightly, letting some of the liquid drizzle over his hole. He slicked up a finger as well, gently rubbing the entrance until Garrett was thrusting back for more.

Anders slowly inserted a finger, Garrett letting out small noises into the pillow. Anders stroked his own cock with his free hand, noticing Garrett’s was hard and leaking from underneath him.

“Feel good?” he whispered, adding a second.

“ _Fuck_ , yes,” Garrett shouted, arching his head up as Anders curled the fingers inside of him. “But I want you inside of me. I’m… _fuck_ …I’m ready.”

Anders stopped stroking his cock, grabbing the condom and handing it to Garrett to open. He spread Garrett wider, pressing the head of his cock against Garrett’s hole.

“Sure you’re ready?”

Garrett looked at him over his shoulder with wild eyes, sweat already covering his brow. Anders chuckled, running a soothing hand down Garrett’s back before leisurely sliding his cock inside.

He bit his lip as Garrett let out a low wail of pleasure, not bothering to muffle the sound. Anders inched his way in, breath ragged, until he was fully sheathed.

Garrett was already pushing his hips backwards, begging Anders to move, but the other man held still, allowing Garrett time to adjust. He spread his body completely across Garrett’s, pulling the blankets over top of them both.

“We can stay a little warmer,” he panted into Garrett’s ear before giving him a little push.

Garrett groaned again, trying to move, but Anders had him pinned down.

“Relax, love,” he whispered into Garrett’s ear, one hand snaking down to stroke his cock. Garrett let out another wail at the contact, hips rolling into Anders’ hand. Anders stretched out his other arm next to Garrett’s, entwining their fingers together as he rocked his hips back, slamming into Garrett roughly.

“Yes, just like that, fuck…” Garrett panted, rutting his dick into Anders’ hand as much as he was able.

Anders began driving into him with as much force as he could from that position, other hand attempting to stroke Garrett in time.

“Fuck, Garrett…” Anders panted. “Will never…get tired of this…want you, so much…”

Garrett’s moans were coming louder, mingling with a series of whimpers and encouragements. Anders began planting small kisses and bites across his shoulders, pausing every time he got close to his ear to murmur filthy, sweet nothings.

“You have…the most incredible ass,” he panted, Garrett groaning in response. “Everything about you is so perfect.”

He sank his teeth gingerly into Garrett’s shoulder, pulling a strangled groan from his lover’s mouth before kissing the area gently.

“Not…going to last much longer,” Garrett gritted out, writhing beneath him.

“Want me to slow down?” Anders teased, kissing the crook of his neck.

“ _NO_.”

Anders laughed before burying his face into his neck once more. Garrett brushed his hand away, taking over stroking his cock and allowing Anders to grip his hip instead. Anders’ thrusts came in short, hard bursts, Garrett lifting his hips up slightly for better movement as they both rocked against the bed.

Garrett was letting out a steady string of whimpers and cries, no longer caring how loud he was being. Anders’ noises were muffled against Garrett’s body. The other man stiffened below him suddenly, almost curling in on himself as he came with a wail. A few more frantic thrusts and Anders followed, shuddering as he came.

They remained that way for a while as their breathing went back to normal. Garrett finally nudged Anders gently, both letting out quiet noises as Anders slipped out. Garrett scooted closer to the center of the bed, out of the mess he had made.

Anders cleaned up, grabbing them each a pair of pajamas on his way back. They dressed quickly, burrowing together under the pile of blankets for warmth.

“Okay, now I’m cold,” Anders said, snuggling closer.

“I could call Woofy in to sleep with us,” Garrett grinned, wrapping an arm around Anders and pulling him against his body.

“I’m not that desperate yet.”

* * *

The power came back on with click a few hours later, startling them both from their sleep. Anders blinked at the clock, realizing it was only 10:30 at night. He got out of bed and padded to the living room, pulling the curtains aside.

“Garrett?” he called. “You might want to see this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could have sworn there were fluffy prompts in between the smutty ones, but apparently I was wrong lol. 
> 
> Thank you all again for everything <3


	11. An unusual snowman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The blizzard has come and gone, leaving a massive amount of snow behind. Anders comes up with a creative way to clear a space in the backyard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: G - pure silliness

“I have no idea how we’re going to dig through this,” Garrett said, adjusting the hat on his head.

He and Anders were standing on the freshly-shoveled back porch, looking out at the overwhelming amount of snow in the backyard. They had cleared off the porch with slight difficulty – mostly concerned with giving Woofy a place to go to the bathroom that morning and the night before – but they knew that wouldn’t last.

It was a gorgeous sight, and Anders hated to spoil it. The sky was perfectly clear, although it was still frigid and the sun was doing very little to melt anything.

The sun was doing very little other than blinding him, honestly.

He was ready to head into the house to grab a pair of sunglasses when he heard a noise off to the side, where Garrett had been moments earlier.

“Oops.”

He turned to see Garrett standing in the nearly two-foot-high snow, trying to shuffle himself forward.

“What did you do, jump in it?” Anders asked in exasperation, fighting not to laugh.

“…Noooo.”

Anders sighed, shaking his head.

“Well, I’m not sure what to do to help. I’m not jumping in after you.”

Garrett turned and looked at him slowly, a playful grin on his face.

“Ohhh, no,” Anders shouted, backing up towards the door. “I’ll help dig you out, but let me at least prepare myself.”

He disappeared back into the house to grab his sunglasses (and a pair for Garrett) before returning. Garrett hadn’t gotten very far, but he was at least almost to the steps. Anders helped him up onto the porch, brushing off his legs the best he could.

“Go change, love,” Anders said, giving Garrett a look that said _don’t argue_. “You’re going to freeze with your legs soaked like that. I’m not driving to the hospital in all this.”

Garrett sighed in resignation and went to change, leaving Anders to ponder their situation. They were just going to have to start small and work their way out. The space didn’t have to be _that_ big…

By the time Garrett returned, Anders had cleared the steps and was slowly making some headway on the path Garrett started with his feet. It was difficult to toss the snow in either direction, with the piles already so large.

“We need to figure out a place to dump this snow,” Anders sighed, leaning on his shovel. They had made a small clearing, but it was barely big enough for the two of them to stand. And knowing Woofy, he would get stubborn and go barreling into the snow mounds and get stuck.

_Like dog, like owner_ , Anders thought with a smirk.

Garrett sat on the edge of the cleared step, absentmindedly picking up a handful of snow and slowly forming it into a ball as he thought. He repeated the motion, preoccupied with building a pyramid out of snowballs than thinking of a solution.

Anders stood and watched, cheeks burning with cold and wishing he was back inside covered in blankets. But one glance at the back door – where Woofy had his face smashed against the glass watching them – reminded him that they couldn’t stop just yet.

Admiring Garrett’s carefulness, a thought suddenly popped into his head.

“Love…” Anders began, nudging him with his foot. “What if we came up with a better way to move the snow? And had a little fun at the same time?”

He grinned, chuckling to himself at the confusion and interest on Garrett’s face. The other man stood, wiping off his pants.

“Okay, what are you talking about?”

Anders gestured towards the snowball pyramid.

“Snowmen.”

“Umm…” Garrett furrowed his brow, looking between Anders and the snow. “I don’t get it.”

“Instead of shoveling the snow off to the sides, we roll it up,” Anders explained. “Pack it together, pile it on top of each other. We get it out of the way easier and get to make a couple snowmen in the process.”

Garrett looked at Anders doubtfully but was swayed by the eagerness on his boyfriend’s face. He shrugged, laughing.

“It’s worth a shot,” he grinned. “But they have to be _real_ snowmen…with the scarves and hats and carrot noses and everything.”

“Do you even have carrots in the house?”

“…We’ll improvise.”

The first one was the hardest, as expected, with so little room to maneuver. Garrett took great delight in hip-checking Anders as much as possible, causing the other man to nearly fall into the snow several times. Anders appeared to be having a good enough time though that he just grinned and playfully shoved Garrett back.

“I think it looks good,” Garrett said, stepping back once they finished. “Nice and…round…”

“Don’t you want to dress it up?”

“Right,” Garrett nodded, sprinting towards the door and nudging Woofy out of the way. He returned a few minutes later, brandishing a carrot triumphantly over his head.

“LOOK WHAT I FOUND!” he grinned.

“I’m so proud of you, love,” Anders teased, giving him a quick peck on the cheek as he took the hat and scarf from his hands.

They placed the accessories on the snowman – easily as tall as them both – and examined it once more.

“I think we need another one,” Garrett mused, looking around. “He needs a friend. And Woofy needs a bigger bathroom.”

They built a second, not as elaborate snowman to stand next to the first, freeing up another chunk of ground in the area.

“I don’t have another carrot, so this one gets no nose,” Garrett sighed, adjusting the rocks he was using as a mouth.

“I like them.” Anders smiled, looking them over.

“You know…” Garrett pondered. “I think they need a dog.”

“What?”

“A snow dog!” Garrett exclaimed, already starting to roll more snow. “To keep them company.”

“But…” Anders protested. “They should have a cat, too.”

Garrett froze, looking at Anders over his shoulder incredulously. _He_ was the one usually making the absurd suggestions. He could tell by the way the flush grew darker in Anders’ cheeks that he was embarrassed, and Garrett found it incredibly adorable.

“Fantastic idea,” he smiled. “You work on the cat, I’ll work on the dog.”

They worked silently for a bit until there was a snow animal on either side of the snowmen. They didn’t quite look like animals…but it was the idea that counted.

Garrett moved to stand next to Anders, slinging an arm around his waist.

“They look like such a happy little family,” he laughed.

Anders cleared his throat but said nothing else, nodding his head and looping his own arm around Garrett’s waist. Garrett peered at him curiously, but Anders only leaned over, resting his head on Garrett’s shoulder and smiling.

They stood quietly, admiring their work when they heard scratching coming from behind them.

“Guess someone else wants to see what a good job we did,” Garrett chuckled, making his way to the door. Anders gathered up the shovels and propped them up against the wall.

Woofy came bounding down the steps moments later, seemingly delighted at finally being able to move in his yard again, however little space he had. Garrett joined Anders once more, kissing him softly on the forehead.

“How about we get out of these wet clothes and into the shower?” Anders murmured, pressing his face against Garrett’s coat.

“That sounds fantastic,” Garrett sighed. “Let’s just wait for—Woofy, _NO!_ ”

Anders looked over, just as Woofy lifted his leg right next to the snow family.

“Aw man,” Garrett groaned. “He melted half the dog’s body off.”

Anders bit his lip, trying to hold back a laugh, but the look of abject horror on Garrett’s face was more than he could take. He burst into laughter, doubling over.

“Aww, come _on_ , Woofy!” Garrett cried out again, and Anders lifted his head just in time to see the dog walk right over the snow cat, crushing it. He had no idea what he had done wrong, looking at Garrett with his tail slowly wagging.

Garrett sighed loudly, gesturing for Woofy to go inside.

“Let’s go,” he mumbled. “But _NO_ sleeping on the chair today, you hear me?”

Anders followed them both inside, Garrett lecturing Woofy as the dog trotted away and plopped down next to the Christmas tree. He grinned, peeling off his wet outer clothes before making his way to the bathroom.

“Guess someone got jealous,” he teased as Garrett joined him a minute later.

“He saw us having fun and wanted in on it,” Garrett grunted, peeling off the rest of his clothes and turning on the water.

“Don’t worry about it, love,” Anders chuckled. “It was the thought that counts.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know if that would work, but just go with it lol.


	12. The smell of the holidays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrett and Anders start discussing their favorite winter/holiday smells, and Garrett treats Anders to story from his childhood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> G - tiny bit of angst
> 
> Have you missed the twins? I did!

“I sort of wish there were more pine trees around here,” Anders remarked that morning.

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” Anders shrugged. “To me, winter equals pine trees and that forest-y smell.”

Garrett nodded.

“Yeah, that Christmas tree smell.”

“That, but it was a lot more,” Anders sighed, settling back against the couch. “Don’t you have certain smells that you immediately associate with something?”

“Sure,” Garrett agreed. “I smell hot dogs and think of the ballpark. Freshly cut grass reminds me of playing outside in the summer when I was little. Pumpkins and apples remind me of fall. Chocolate reminds me of you.”

He grinned at the last statement, wiggling his eyebrows at Anders, who rolled his eyes.

“I eat _one_ brownie…”

“Right,” Garrett coughed. “Because that’s the only reason why…”

Anders shook his head, chuckling quietly.

“But since I didn’t celebrate Christmas growing up, those smells don’t have the same meaning to me,” he shrugged. “I think of winter, but not the holidays.”

Garrett shifted over slightly to better face him.

“Like what?”

“I spent a lot of time outside,” Anders said, a small smile playing on his lips. “So yeah, the pine. But also – and you can appreciate this now – the smell of the snow itself. It was almost always snowing in Ferelden during this time of year.”

“But snow doesn’t—“

“Think about it,” Anders said, smiling softly. “It _does_ have a smell. You can’t describe it, though, right? But you’d know it anywhere.”

Garrett paused, looking towards the front door as if some of the smell would come wafting through the cracks. And in a funny way, he _did_ know what Anders was talking about. So he nodded.

“But I think my favorite winter smell has to be the wood burning.  Either in a fireplace or in a pit in the backyard…there’s nothing better to me than a good, strong fire. Wherever I live next, I’m going to have a fireplace.”

Garrett bit his lip, small swell of something rising into his chest.

 _Now isn’t the time,_ he scolded himself.

“You know what I mean, though,” Anders said, clearing his throat and looking out of the window thoughtfully. “But now I’m curious. What else smells like the holidays to you?”

Garrett shrugged. “I never thought about it, really. Christmas trees. Cinnamon. Peppermint.”

He stopped, closing his eyes for a moment before bursting into laughter.

“And sweet potatoes.”

He continued laughing, wiping the tears from his eyes as Anders looked on in confusion.

“Okay, I’ll bite. Why?”

Garrett held up one finger, gesturing for Anders to give him a minute until he could control himself again. He finally took a deep breath, rubbing his eyes one last time before smiling.

“So, it’s Christmas Eve. My dad was still alive, and the twins were probably…I don’t know, 8 or so?” he began. “We always have this big family dinner on Christmas Eve – which you will be invited to this year, by the way – and it was always a really big deal for my parents.”

Anders noticed the way Garrett’s eyes always softened when he spoke about his father. He didn’t do it often, but it was apparent from the way he and the twins spoke that Garrett was his father’s favorite. He knew it was a difficult subject, even all these years later, so he reached out and rested his hand on Garrett’s leg, squeezing gently.

Garrett gave him a grateful smile before continuing.

“Well, that year my mom decided to make something special. Have you ever had those mashed sweet potatoes with the little marshmallows baked on top?”

Anders shrugged and shook his head no.

“It’s _so_ good,” Garrett gushed. “We all loved it cause it was like having dessert with dinner. Carver was especially fond of it.”

He grinned, laughing again for a brief moment before continuing.

“So as soon as mom announced she was making that for Christmas, Carver freaked out. He and Beth were begging to be the ones to add the marshmallows to the top before it went in the oven, and mom agreed.”

“The smell of it cooking…oh my God, wait until you smell it. It’s like heaven,” he sighed. Anders just smiled in response, resting his head on the back cushion as he listened.

“Mom takes the pan out of the oven to let it cool before dinner. Except… _someone_ couldn’t wait that long. A Carver-shaped someone.”

He stopped again, rubbing his eyes as he grinned and shook his head at the memory.

“Mom goes to grab the pan when it’s time to eat…but it’s not there. She’s running around the kitchen screaming about this missing pan of sweet potatoes. Beth and I come running in, looking around in horror because we’re _really_ looking forward to this.”

“Let me guess…” Anders began.

“We search all around and can’t see anything. Dad wasn’t home, so he had nothing to do with it. Which only left Carver…who was suspiciously missing.”

Anders loved hearing stories about when Garrett was younger, feeling like he had missed out on so much of his own youth. With a family, at least. And coming from someone who was so close with his siblings, it almost made him ache with jealousy that he never got to experience that.

“So we’re calling out for Carver,” Garrett continued. “But he’s not answering. We’re searching and searching, but there’s no sign of him or the sweet potatoes. Then Bethany has the grand idea of luring him out with one of his other favorites – pie.”

“It must run in the family,” Anders smirked. Garrett laughed, shifting himself so that his head was now resting on Anders’ lap. Anders began gently running his fingers through his hair as Garrett continued.

“Mom and Bethany start talking really loudly about what kind of pie we should have after dinner. Beth keeps yelling things like, ‘I wish Carver was here, he would make the decision for us’ and things like that. We finally hear some shuffling coming from one of the hall closets.”

Anders smiled, knowing where this was going.

“I sneak up to the closet and swing open the door, only to see Carver lying there with the empty pan next to him, sweet potato and marshmallow smeared all over his face and groaning while he clutched his stomach.”

Anders chuckled as Garrett started laughing once more, shaking Anders legs with the deep rumble.

“The entire closet just reeked of food. He had bits stuck in his hair, marshmallow down the front of his shirt…mom was furious. But Carver didn’t care. He just glared defiantly at us with his potato-streaked face.”

“So now, whenever I smell sweet potatoes, I automatically think of Christmas,” he grinned. “And Carver.”

Garrett wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes again before craning his head back to gaze at Anders.

“It was ridiculous but hilarious. It’ll be forever burned into my mind.”

“So you’re saying I should bring over a tray for this Christmas Eve dinner, huh?” Anders teased.

Garrett sat up quickly, turning to grin at the idea.

“That’s perfect!” he exclaimed. “Oh God, I’m giving Carver sweet potatoes for Christmas.”

He began cracking up all over again.

“I’m baking that for Carver and then packing it up to give to him. That same night, of course. Can you just imagine the look on his face?”

“I sure can,” Anders laughed. “He’ll look thrilled and then glare at the rest of us before he runs off to the other room to eat it before he’s told to share.”

“You’re…not wrong,” Garrett snorted. “But I think it would be worth it to see the look on mom and Beth’s faces as well.”

“I also think,” he continued, running his hand down Anders’ leg. “That we should make our own memories. I want to smell something and immediately think, ‘my first Christmas with Anders.’”

Anders smiled fondly, planting a small kiss on Garrett’s lips.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea, love. Although right now I have a feeling that smell is ‘wet dog’.”

Woofy whined from his bed as Garrett laughed.

“He’s not wrong, boy.”

Anders stretched and sprawled out across Garrett’s lap, mirroring the position his lover was just in.

“We’ll figure it out,” he smiled. “Let’s just let things happen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're halfway done, guys! This month is flying by and I'm kinda sad (although finishing these means I get to go back to the main story). Thanks to everyone who has been reading/liking/reblogging/and especially commenting on them all so far, you're awesome <3


	13. An odd holiday tradition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anders learns a surprising bit of Garrett's ancestry after finding some odd ornaments on the tree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: T - idk cause I say so
> 
> Otherwise known as the prompt where I reveal Garrett is part Tevinter

“I don’t know what you have more of on this tree – dogs or dragons.” 

Anders had just finished watering the tree and was now toying with some of the ornaments. He knew Garrett wasn’t going to be a traditional “round bulb” kind of tree decorator, but he was slightly surprised by his choices.

Other than the dogs. He knew to expect dogs.

Garrett was sprawled half on, half off the couch, one arm dangling over the side to scratch Woofy. He sat up slightly, looking to see which ornaments Anders was referring to.

“In my defense, a lot of the dog ornaments were gifts,” he said, lying back down.

Anders looked at him skeptically, an eyebrow raised.

“Okay, _maybe_ they were gifts from Woofy,” Garrett said defensively. “But they’re still gifts! I can’t help it if he wants to see his face all over the tree.”

There were several large ornaments in various shapes – a dog house, fire hydrant, bone, and other dog-related things – each with a picture of Woofy showing through a small cut-out frame. They all had a different year attached, with the oldest one featuring a very tiny, eight-month-old (according to the tag) Woofy staring happily at the camera.

“That makes sense…in a Garrett sort of way,” Anders nodded. “These dragons look expensive, though.”

He plucked one from a branch, turning it around in his hand and admiring the details.

“I know you like dragons. I just didn’t expect to see them at Christmas.”

Garrett stood and walked over to the tree, much to Woofy’s disappointment. He took the dragon from Anders’ hand and looked it over as well.

“This is Zazikel,” he said, waving it in front of Anders’ face. “The dragon of chaos.”

“Okay…” Anders said slowly. “And why is he on your tree?”

Garrett’s mouth dropped open as he stared blankly at Anders, before turning to the tree and removing each dragon that was on display. He gathered them all and gestured for Anders to follow him over to the couch, pulling the coffee table closer so he could line them all up.

“You don’t know the story of the seven old gods?”

Anders shook his head.

“Is this a Christmas story and I don’t know it? I don’t remember any dragons flying around with Santa.”

“Dragons with… _NO_ ,” Garrett shouted in horror. He put his head in his hands for a minute before turning towards Anders, who was now looking at him with a bemused smile.

“Okay, so you know how a lot of stuff we associate with Christmas actually comes from other cultures and stuff, right?”

Anders nodded.

“Well, in Tevinter, they have a whole different way of celebrating the season. There’s no Santa. It’s a week-long celebration, each day dedicated to one of the seven old gods.”

He picked up a couple of the dragons, waving them in front of him.

“But Garrett…you aren’t from Tevinter.”

Garrett shrugged, putting the figurines back on the table.

“ _I’m_ not from Tevinter, but part of my Dad’s side of the family was,” he smiled. “My grandmom came from just outside of Minrathous. She met my granddad when he was traveling through the city and they fell in love. Eventually they moved to Kirkwall.”

Anders looked from him to the dragons and back with interest.

“I had no idea, love,” he said. “I’ve only been there a few times to play, but what I’ve seen is beautiful.”

“I’ve never been there,” Garrett grinned. “But my dad was really big on tradition, and this was one of the ones he passed down to me.”

He lined up the dragons once more – in some sort of order, Anders presumed – and then began pointing them out.

“So each dragon is the god of something, and each day is a different type of celebration.”

He picked up the first dragon in line, turning it over in his hands before showing Anders.

“This is Dumat – the god of silence. He was sort of the leader, and the most powerful of the old gods.”

He handed the figure to Anders.

“He’s celebrated on the first day with a fast and a day of silence. People only eat one small meal and are supposed to spend most of their day in reflection or prayer. Obviously it’s not done to the same degree as it used to be.”

Anders put the dragon down as Garrett picked the next one up.

“This is Zazikel – which I already told you - the god of chaos. His day is almost the exact opposite of the day before. It’s celebrations all day, lots of fancy masked parties and stuff like that. Some of them were supposedly pretty wild.”

He grinned, handing that dragon to Anders before picking up the next.

“This is Toth, the god of fire.”

He held the dragon right in front of Anders’ face, bumping into his nose and making quiet roaring noises. Anders laughed in spite of himself, pushing Garrett’s hand away.

“They say that it took three armies to take him down, and when he was killed, the sword used broke into three different pieces. Each piece was remade into a dagger, and was given to the leaders of those three armies.”

“So what do they do to celebrate that? Throw knives at each other?” Anders asked, taking the dragon from his hand.

“Sort of,” Garrett grinned. “It’s a day of competition. In the old days, they would hold big tournaments in his name, lots of jousting and knight-y things.”

“You would make a good knight, love,” Anders smiled. “My Champion.”

Garrett blushed and looked away, opening his mouth to say something but picking up the fourth dragon instead.

“Andoral is next, and he was always kind of confusing to me. He’s sort of the patron of chains, of slaves…but now he’s usually referred to as the god of unity.”

“Well, I mean…chains, unity…it kind of goes together, I guess?” Anders shrugged.

“Yeahhh…don’t say anything about that in front of Fenris,” Garrett grimaced. “He’s from Tevinter, and his family descended from slaves. They…don’t take too kindly to this day and what it used to stand for.”

Anders’ eyes widened in dismay.

“Oh God, what did they used to do?”

Garrett shook his head.

“Not good things,” he said. “There’s a reason they switched the holiday to a unity day. Now it’s more about ‘coming of age’ and marriage than anything else.”

Anders tried to think of something to say, but Garrett put the dragon down, picking up the next.

“Urthemiel is the god of beauty. His day is one of the most popular. It’s very dramatic,” he grinned. “You sort of…fawn all over each other. Lots of flowers and gifts and declarations of love. In the old days, it would be really popular for people to write entire plays for their lovers. Half of the day would be spent in the theater, listening to exaggerated, drawn-out love poems.”

“Sounds like fun,” Anders smirked, leaning forward to kiss Garrett briefly. “I want to fawn all over you.”

Garrett blushed again and choked out a laugh, picking up the next dragon. Anders was becoming more and more amused by his reactions.

“This is Razikale,” he continued, ignoring the grin on Anders’ face. “She’s the goddess of mystery, but people sort of look to her for wisdom. Her day is pretty quiet as the week winds down. More a day of reflection and wishing, kind of like what we do on New Year’s now. Hopes and plans for the future, well-wishes for everyone, etcetera.”

He handed that dragon and picked up the last, heaving out a sigh.

“And last, but certainly not least, we have Lusacan, the god of the night.”

He handed the dragon to Anders, leaning forward as Anders looked it over.

“He’s kind of my favorite,” Garrett whispered with a small smile. “And…I’m not really sure why. He’s not exactly a _good_ dragon. He’s a hunter and only hunts at night, and people view him almost like the god of death, coming to guide you to the afterlife.”

“And _what_ could you possibly do to celebrate that?” Anders asked.

Garrett chuckled.

“Well, it’s kind of like…it’s pretty morose, actually. A day to spend with your family, to remember your ancestors and people who have passed on, stuff like that. Also, Halloween.”

He grinned as Anders burst into laughter.

“It all makes sense now,” he teased. “You spend time with your family during the day and then get to scare the shit out of each other at night.”

“Pretty much,” Garrett nodded. “And that’s it! The holiday week coincides with Christmas, so we would always spend a little time celebrating this along with the usual Christmas-y stuff.”

“How often did you scare Carver?”

Garrett pretended to be offended, scoffing at the words.

“Are you implying that I’m not kind to my eternally pissed off brother?” he grinned. “But actually, Carver and Beth weren’t too interested in this stuff.”

He looked sad for a moment, and Anders wondered if he had said something wrong. Garrett forced a smile a minute later, however.

“It was more something my dad and I did together,” he murmured. “No one else really cared, especially after he was gone. I still put them on the tree every year, though. For him.”

Anders smiled softly, pulling Garrett closer to him. Garrett wrapped an arm around his waist, resting his head on Anders’ shoulder, which Anders kissed.

“I think it’s an amazing tradition,” he whispered. “We can celebrate them together if you want.”

Garrett sat up, looking at him nervously.

“Really?”

“If you want to,” Anders replied, nodding. “I mean…I don’t want to usurp your dad if you’d rather keep this as your thi—“

“No!” Garrett shouted excitedly, flushing and looking away shyly a moment later at his outburst.

“I want to. I think…my dad would have liked you,” he smiled. “I _know_ he would have. And he would want me to keep the tradition going.”

“Because you’re dating a professional athlete?” Anders teased, nudging him with his knee.

“ _No,_ ” Garrett exclaimed, laughing loudly. “Although I’m sure he would have been impressed, at least.”

He smiled softly, taking Anders’ hand.

“Because you’re a good person…and you’re good to _me_. And he would have seen how happy I am.”

“Then I’d be honored,” Anders smiled, pulling him into a gentle, lingering kiss. “But please, love. No dragon noises in bed.”

“But I thought you were helping me ‘train my dragon’?” Garrett grinned, pulling his lover on top of him. Anders chuckled as he nipped at Garrett’s lip.

“Proper training might require proper noises,” Garrett continued as he rested his hands on Anders’ hips. “Roars, even? Provided the trainer can…pull them out of me.”

“Is that a challenge, Garrett Hawke?”

“Are you _up_ for it?” Garrett queried, small smile on his lips.

“I usually am, when you’re around,” Anders smirked, rolling his hips once before rising from the couch.

“Come on, love,” he called over his shoulder as he made his way into the bedroom. “Let’s see how good you are at following orders.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I totally twisted around the idea of Satinalia and the Tevinter holidays and meshed them into one new holiday. I kind of want to expand on this idea cause I had fun coming up with it, but not entirely sure how (other than a random one-shot or something). 
> 
> But yes, Malcolm was half-Tevinter and it was something Leandra was not particularly proud of. She has sort of encouraged her family to keep this bit of their history quiet. Except Garrett gives 0 fucks about her propriety so he doesn't care.


	14. A Christmas letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who would have thought Garrett wrote letters to Santa every year? Oh, right. Everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: T- not really anything much

“What are you doing?”

Garrett plopped down on the couch next to Anders, who was aimlessly tapping his phone with a bored expression on his face.

“Nothing exciting,” Anders replied. “Why?”

Garrett grinned, tossing a notepad and a pen onto Anders’ lap. He had another pad and pen for himself.

“What are we doing, Garrett?” Anders sighed with a smile.

“Guess.”

“Writing letters to Santa?”

Garrett frowned. “How did you know?”

“ _Seriously_?” Anders laughed. Garrett had a hurt expression on his face, although he had a feeling it was just for show.

“Love…I think we’re a little too old to write to Santa.”

“No, you _have_ to!” Garrett insisted. “It’s good luck or something. I do it every year. I even write one for Woofy.”

Anders raised his eyebrows at that, staring at his boyfriend for a moment before shaking his head. Why did anything surprise him anymore?

“And does it work?”

“Yes.” Garrett nodded firmly, picking up his pen. “You don’t have to like…write a list or anything. You just write it like a letter. What you want to happen for next year or, I don’t know, if you _do_ want any gifts this year.” He gave Anders a pointed look at that.

Anders pondered the idea for a moment, debating whether it was worth humoring Garrett or not. But the hopeful look on Garrett’s face made any resolve of his crumble.

“Fine,” he sighed, picking up his own pen to a small cheer from Garrett. “But…we aren’t going to bring them to a mall Santa or something, are we?”

Garrett scoffed, looking at Anders like he was out of his mind.

“We’re going to _mail_ them, love. There’s a North Pole address.”

Anders was quiet as Garrett began to write, watching him as he eagerly filled a quarter of the page in no time.

“Garrett…?”

“Hmmm?” Garrett responded without looking up.

“You, um…don’t get mad at me, okay?” Garrett glanced over at him and Anders tried to give him his most sweet and charming look.

“You don’t actually…believe in this, right?”

Garrett sighed, shaking his head slightly as he went back to writing.

“It’s another tradition, okay?” he muttered. “Just let me be a Christmas dork for a few more days.”

Anders frowned, feeling horrible for teasing. He reached over, stilling Garrett’s arm until the other man looked back at him.

“Hey,” he murmured with a small smile. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean anything bad by it. I think it’s adorable.”

“Really?” Garrett gave him an unsure, crooked smile.

“Yes,” Anders grinned, picking up his pen. “And I bet you my letter will be even longer than yours.”

“Pffft, you wish,” Garrett grinned back. “I’m writing Woofy’s letter first, anyway.”

Anders pondered what he should put down. Should he be serious? Or should he make the kind of list he always wanted to when he was a child that he knew no one would ever see except him. He snuck another glance at Garrett as he thought.

 _This is all I really want, anyway. Right here_ , he mused.

He could write something utterly ridiculous – like he imagined Garrett was going to do. Once he finished Woofy’s letter, of course. Speaking of which…

“So, what does Woofy want for Christmas?”

“Oh, the usual dog stuff,” Garrett replied casually, still writing. “Some new toys, maybe one of those huge knuckle bones. Lots of walks to the park, lots of ducks to chase. You know.”

Anders chuckled, leaning closer to Garrett and planting a small kiss on his shoulder.

“Absolutely adorable,” he murmured, resting his head there, which was quickly shrugged off.

“You can tell me how adorable I am later,” Garrett grinned. “For now, write.”

“You’re always denying me,” Anders sighed dramatically. “I never get to shower you with love and affection.”

That caught Garrett’s attention, at least, as the other man paused to stare at him.

“…Seriously?”

Anders nodded solemnly. “It’s true.”

Garrett rolled his eyes and grinned, going back to his paper.

“If what you do isn’t considered ‘showering me with love and affection’ then I’m afraid to see what you mean,” he chuckled.

“I can demonstrate for you,” Anders purred, scooting closer. “Although I’d need you to remove that paper from your lap.”

“ _Later_ ,” Garrett laughed, pushing him away again. “My dick isn’t going anywhere.”

Anders groaned good-naturedly and picked up his own paper again.

“Fine, you win,” he sighed. “But I’m holding you to that.”

* * *

Anders quickly filled up three pages with his Christmas wish, making sure he kept it hidden from Garrett. The other man, meanwhile, had written a full page for Woofy and was now on page two of his own. Anders was resisting the urge to glance at what he was writing, instead opting to grab them both some envelopes.

He had decided to go the serious (yet slightly humorous) route with his letter, and as soon as he began to write, he was amazed at how easily the words flowed out of him. All of the things that he wanted to say to Garrett that he never felt like he could, for whatever reason, came pouring out onto the paper. Sometimes the timing felt wrong, other times he was worried of scaring Garrett off. The intensity of his feelings still surprised him at times, and although Garrett had reassured him many, many times since The Incident that he appreciated – and wanted – Anders’ affection, he still felt like it could be overwhelming.

And so his letter began with sweet nothings, starting from the day they met. Garrett had heard the story many times before, but Anders wanted to remind him how all it took was one overly-enthusiastic smile and a croissant to win his heart.

The longer he wrote, the more… _inspired_ he became, and the message quickly veered into very explicit ways Anders would like to show his appreciation for his lover. He could feel his face grow hot, amused that he could blush over his own words when they usually fell out of his mouth so easily. He glanced over at Garrett several times to make sure the other man wasn’t paying any attention, but Garrett was too engrossed in his own letter.

He did look Anders’ way a few minutes later, however, furrowing his brow at how much writing Anders had done.

“You, ah…look like you’re asking for a lot this year,” he joked, giving Anders a small smile when he met his eyes.

“Well, it’s the first time I’ve done this,” Anders smiled back. “I want to make sure I do it right.”

Garrett chuckled, pulling up the North Pole address on his phone and addressing both the envelopes before stuffing the letters inside.

“I’m going to take these out to the mailbox,” Garrett said, standing up and stretching. “Do you want to make lunch?”

Anders nodded, heading to the kitchen as Garrett walked to the mailbox. He began to silently panic…he hadn’t _really_ expected Garrett to mail the letters. He wasn’t sure what he thought Garrett was going to do with them, but there was no way he wanted some random mail person to read his private ( _very_ private) thoughts about his boyfriend.

Garrett was whistling when he returned a minute later, Woofy up and jumping around his legs.

“I’m just going to make us some sandwiches, okay love?” Anders said casually.

“No problem,” Garrett replied, scratching Woofy behind the ears. “I’m going to bring him outside in the meantime.”

Anders laid out the sandwich ingredients, listening for the slam of the back door before he sprinted out the front door and to the mailbox. Sure enough, the letters were sitting there, stamped and ready to go. Garrett had even drawn smiley faces next to his return address.

 _How did I even find this man?_ Anders thought, chuckling to himself. He tucked the letters into his back pocket and slipped back inside, quickly hiding the letters under his side of the mattress. His plan – now that he realized Garrett hadn’t intended them to see the letters – was to hide them until Christmas Eve. He was going to give Garrett the letter he wrote regardless, but would respect his decision if Garrett wanted to keep his private. There was just too much in that letter for him to throw it out without Garrett seeing it at least once.

And the letter from Woofy…well, Garrett could decide what to do with that one. Anders was pretty sure that dog would have more presents than both of them combined, if the pile already under the tree was any indication.

He walked back to the kitchen just as said dog came trotting back inside, Garrett not far behind. He gave Anders a small smile as he walked into the kitchen, turning on the coffee maker.

Anders gazed at him a moment before walking over, wrapping his arms around Garrett’s waist.

“Hello there,” Garrett smiled, laying his own arms over Anders’. “Did making sandwiches get you into a cuddling mood?”

“Writing did,” Anders murmured, planting a small kiss on Garrett’s cheek.

“Well, now I’m _very_ excited to see what gets left for you under the tree this year.”

Anders chuckled, burrowing his face into Garrett’s neck as he inhaled the scent of the other man.

“Doesn’t matter,” he murmured. “All I really want is you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI: Garrett did not write "a new dog" over and over again 
> 
> But what did he write? Hmmmmm...


	15. Dancing in the snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anders finds Garrett laughing hysterically one morning, and it seems like a text from Bethany is to blame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: M - language, sexual impressions of Garrett

Anders was in the kitchen making coffee when he heard Garrett cackling from the bedroom.

Not seeing Woofy anywhere in the vicinity, he could only assume the dog had done something Garrett deemed hilarious. Considering he hadn’t even gotten out of bed yet, Anders could only imagine what it might be. So many days trapped inside featuring rather…vigorous activity had left them both feeling slightly sorer and more worn out than usual, and Anders was definitely feeling the effects that morning. He had a feeling Garrett probably felt the same.

Anders decided they both needed an actual breakfast to go with their coffee, so he began pulling the eggs and bacon out of the fridge, assuming Garrett would smell the food and rouse himself from the bed.

Several minutes – and many pieces of sizzling bacon – had gone by and there was still no sign of him. Anders paused, listening, only to hear a loud snort and another round of laughter emanating from the other room.

“Love?” Anders called, turning off the stove after scooping the last bit of eggs onto a plate.

After receiving no response, he walked to the door of the bedroom, only to see Garrett wiping his eyes, grinning as he pulled on a pair of pants.

“Having fun without me?” Anders smirked, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe.

Garrett chuckled, grabbing a sweater and tugging it on as he walked over to Anders, giving him a quick kiss.

“I’ll tell you over breakfast.”

“I was wondering if your nose still worked,” Anders teased, following him into the kitchen.

“One of the few body parts still functioning normally, no thanks to you,” Garrett smirked, giving him a look.

“Oh right, like it’s all _my_ fault.” Anders barked out a laugh.

“I never said that,” Garrett replied innocently, forking heapfuls of food onto his dish. “Just saying you’re the more… _active_ participant.” He coughed slightly as he sat.

Anders walked over and stood behind him, leaning down to brush his lips against Garrett’s ear.

“’Oh, love, fuck me harder. Your dick feels so _good_ , don’t fucking stop. I don’t want to be able to walk tomorrow… _fuck, Anders, more_ ,’” he moaned wantonly, mimicking Garrett’s tone. He could see Garrett visibly shudder at the words, accidentally dropping his fork onto his dish.

Anders stood up straight, grinning as he grabbed his own dish and helped himself to some food. Garrett gaped at him, cheeks flushed and shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

“What were you saying, love?” Anders asked brightly, sitting next to him. “This morning, I mean. I _clearly_ remember what you said last night. How are you feeling, by the way?”

Garrett cleared his throat, looking away as he took a bite of his food.

“Um…”

He tucked a piece of hair behind his ear, Anders smiling around his food as he chewed.

“I forgot what I was talking about,” Garrett sighed, reaching for his cup.

“You were saying your sore ass is all my fault.”

Garrett choked on his coffee, gazing at Anders in both shock and amusement as he coughed.

“I meant _before_ that, you jerk,” Garrett half-laughed, half-coughed, taking another sip.

“Oh,” Anders shrugged. “You were laughing at something. I assumed it was Woofy.”

“ _OH!_ ” Garrett gasped, grabbing his phone. “Right. That.”

He tapped the screen a few times, pulling up what looked like a text message.

“So, Bethany texted me this morning,” Garrett began. “Well, she actually sent it last night, but I was otherwise preoccupied and didn’t see it.”

He gave Anders a pointed look before continuing.

“Anyway, she sent me a text and said that the greatest thing happened yesterday. You know how I told you Carver was going nuts being trapped in the house for so long?”

Anders nodded as he ate.

“Well, I guess he had been whining to Merrill about it as well, because she randomly showed up at the house yesterday afternoon.”

“Seriously?” Anders asked, frowning. “She drove in this just to see _Carver?_ ”

Garrett shrugged. “That’s what I said, too. It used to be a struggle for me to walk into another room to see Carver, most days. But Merrill is Merrill, and she did.”

Anders shook his head, raising his eyebrows.

“More power to her. Anyway…”

“Right, so she comes over, much to Carver’s delight and embarrassment,” Garrett smirked. “Bethany was squealing because she was tired of listening to Carver complain and wanted someone normal to be around. Normal in the non-Carver sense.”

Anders snorted.

“So apparently, Merrill is going on and on about how much she loves the snow, how much the winter means for her culture and all the old traditions associated with it.” Garrett chuckled, pausing to eat a bit more.

“I guarantee you Carver didn’t understand most of it, but Beth said he was listening like his life depended on it.”

“I’m afraid to hear where this is going,” Anders remarked.

“You should be,” Garrett grinned. “She’s telling Carver about all the things her people liked to do to honor their ancestors or gods or something…one of which was a ritual that involved dancing during the first snowfall of the season.”

“Oh God…”

“I know,” Garrett grinned. “And Carver, in his infinite wisdom, was not actually grasping what she was implying. He’s just nodding his head and trying to keep up. Next thing he knows, Merrill is on her feet and pulling him towards the hall closet.”

“Let me guess – Carver thought they were going to play Seven Minutes in Heaven.”

Garrett burst into laughter, putting his fork down until he stopped laughing.

“I have to tell Beth that later,” he sighed, smiling. “But no, she pulls out his coat and boots and tells him to put them on. According to Beth, Carver just smiles dumbly and does what she asks, and follows her out the front door.”

At that point, Garrett pulled out his phone, tapping it a few times again until he pulled up a video. He handed the phone to Anders, grinning in delight.

“My Bethy never misses a beat,” he chuckled. “This is what happened when they got outside.”

Anders hit the play button to see Merrill, adorably dressed for the cold, twirling around along the front yard. Carver is watching her silently, eyes wide as Merrill effortlessly moved through the deep snow. He could hear Bethany’s quiet giggles as she filmed.

“ _Come on, Carver. It’s easy_ ,” Merrill called out, gesturing for Carver to join her.

“ _Uh, no. No, I can’t do that_.” Came the reply.

“ _It’s very easy! Just watch me.”_

Merrill proceeded to do another series of twirls and steps, a decent path now cleared in the snow as she smiled at Carver. Carver, who now had his hands stuffed in his pockets, looked torn between staring in adoration and running in the other direction.

Merrill finally pirouetted her way to Carver, holding out her hand towards him.

“ _Come on, silly,_ ” Merrill smiled. “ _It’ll be fun, I promise._ ”

“ _Turn that off, Beth_ ,” Carver growled towards Bethany as he took Merrill’s hand.

“ _Sorry, brother_ ,” Beth giggled. _“I promise I won’t show Garrett._ ”

Garrett snorted from the other side of the table and Anders grinned.

On the screen, Carver allowed himself to be led by Merrill to the center of the path she had formed. Anders couldn’t hear clearly, but it sounded like she was giving Carver instructions on what to do as she demonstrated the steps. Carver was shaking his head no the entire time, but Merrill was having none of it.

“ _Just a few steps, that’s all_ ,” she smiled up at him, and Anders could see in his face that Carver was going to do whatever she asked. He briefly wondered if that’s what he looked like with Garrett.

“Here it comes,” Garrett said eagerly, breaking into Anders’ thoughts. He moved to stand next to Anders, looking over his shoulder.

Carver took an awkward step to the side, holding an arm out next to him. His eyes were trained on Merrill, who was guiding him. She did a quick series of steps, laughing airily as she explained. Carver grunted in frustration, shaking his head again and refusing.

“ _Come on, Carver! You can do it!”_ Beth cheered. Carver shot her a deadly glare before turning back to Merrill.

Merrill repeated the movements once more, then stepped back, gesturing for Carver to do it on his own. Garrett giggled from his side, and Anders could see Carver visibly sigh and resign himself to his brief moment of humiliation.

He took a couple steps to the side, jumping slightly and twirling once, to squeals of delight from both girls. Anders snorted as Garrett’s laughs became a little louder. Carver glanced at Merrill again, who gave him a nod and smile of encouragement.

Carver sighed again, doing a couple small leaps in the air and capping it off with a high jump and twirl…

…headfirst into a pile of snow.

Bethany didn’t even try to hide her loud guffaw of laughter, the phone shaking and going out of focus as she cracked up. Garrett was laughing similarly next to him, and Anders could faintly hear Carver’s curses and cries of protest from the video. He began laughing as well as Bethany refocused her screen.

Carver was struggling to stand, Merrill by his side looking for a way to help him up. She looked horrified, reaching out to tug at the back of his jacket, which did nothing to help. He could see Carver’s disembodied arm come swinging up out of the snow, brushing her away.

“ _Merrill, hon, better give him some room. He’s going to Hulk-smash his way out of that snow drift.”_

“ _I fucking heard that, Beth_ ,” came a muffled shout. Merrill did as Bethany asked though, giggling as she skipped over to Bethany’s side.

Garrett was clutching onto the back of Anders’ chair at this point, still doubled over laughing.

“What a fucking dumbass,” Garrett gasped, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Oh God, I am never going to let him live this down.”

Anders chuckled, handing the phone back as the video ended.

“I’m assuming he survived?”

“Yeah,” Garrett grinned. “He stormed into the house and told them both to never tell anyone. Merrill offered to rub his shoulders while they watched a movie and he calmed down.”

“I hate to say it, love,” Anders said, finishing his food. “But the same thing probably would have happened to you. You’ve fallen into the snow how many times already?”

“Oh, it definitely would have happened to me,” Garrett agreed. “But I would have laughed about it. Carver’s way too serious.”

Anders hummed in agreement, giving Garrett a quick kiss on the head as he gathered their plates.

“You are definitely the least serious of you three.”

“Hey!” Garrett exclaimed. “Is that supposed to be an insult?”

“Of course not, love,” Anders grinned.

“I’ll have you know I’m _very_ serious about some things,” Garrett pouted, walking over to stand next to Anders at the sink. He reached a hand down, giving Anders a firm pinch on his ass.

“Hey!” Anders jumped.

“I’m _very_ serious about making your ass as sore as mine,” Garrett grinned. “When can I start?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I do not remember writing 90% of this chapter. I was pleasantly surprised, but I also love the twins so I might be biased lol. Always kinda weird to read something and scratch your head like, "wait...I wrote this?" (and it happens more often than I should probably admit. Thanks, Ambien.)
> 
> But I mean...Garrett has GOT to be pretty sore by now, lbr.


	16. Sleigh rides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anders surprises Garrett with his first ever sleigh ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: M - lots of touching and teasing

“I made plans for us tonight.”

Garrett stepped out of the shower to see Anders leaning against the bathroom counter, grinning as he handed Garrett a towel.

“Thanks. And um…what?”

“Plans,” Anders repeated. “We can drive, so I made us reservations. Somewhere.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound ominous,” Garrett grimaced, rubbing the towel over his head as he exited the bathroom. Anders took the opportunity to give him a firm smack on the ass, causing Garrett to yelp. He paused, giving his lover a heated look over his shoulder.

“Don’t start something you aren’t prepared to finish.”

He tossed the towel into the corner, striding naked to the dresser to pull out some clothes. Anders followed a short distance behind, not speaking, but also not touching. Garrett glanced at him with raised eyebrows, giving him a chance to act before stepping into his boxers.

“So, are you going to tell me about these big plans or leave me in the dark?” he finally asked.

“I’ll tell you in the car,” Anders grinned. “Be ready by 6.”

Garrett followed as Anders walked into the other room.

“Um…are you going somewhere?” he asked, ignoring the flare of panic in his chest. He knew Anders was going to go back to his own apartment at some point, but he wasn’t quite ready to give him up yet.

“No?” Anders replied, furrowing his brow.

“Oh, just the way you said…”

Anders chuckled, the realization dawning on him.

“I know the way you are, love,” he grinned, sprawling on the couch. “It’ll be dinner time, and you’ll still be…well, like this.”

He gestured to Garrett’s pajama pants and t-shirt, causing the other man to huff in derision.

“My outfit is just _fine_ , thank you,” he said defensively. “But does that mean we’re going somewhere fancy? Do I have to dress up?”

“You have to dress _warm_ ,” Anders smiled innocently. “That’s all I’m going to say.”

* * *

Anders guided Garrett to the car later that evening, gesturing for him to get in the passenger seat. Garrett gave him a curious look but refrained from asking questions until they made their way slowly down the street.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going now?”

Anders grinned, not taking his eyes off the road.

“I saw earlier that old Dennet is giving sleigh rides around his farm tonight,” he explained, still grinning from ear to ear. “Apparently he has some sort of course for his horses that goes all through his property, and he cleared it enough for the sleigh to get through.”

Garrett was staring at him, blinking his eyes in both confusion and excitement.

“So I called this morning,” Anders continued. “And requested he put aside an hour for us. Privately.”

He reached over, squeezing Garrett’s knee briefly and giving him a quick smile.

“Doesn’t that sound like fun?” he asked, somewhat nervously. “I asked for the whole hour so that we wouldn’t be bothered. You know, I just wanted—“

“It sounds amazing,” Garrett blurted out, Anders sighing in relief next to him.

“And being alone…yeah,” Garrett chuckled. “I’m shocked he agreed, though. I always heard he was a bit of a hard-ass.”

“I can be pretty persuasive,” Anders smirked.

“How much did you pay him?”

“Garrett!” Anders laughed. “I didn’t _bribe_ him. I just…told him I would autograph a baseball for his son.”

“That’s worth more than a bribe!”

“Garrett, relax.” Anders extended his hand again, rubbing Garrett’s leg soothingly. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll be worth it.”

Garrett scoffed, entwining their fingers together.

“ _You’re_ worth it, how about that?”

Garrett didn’t reply, lifting their joined hands to kiss Anders’ fingers before releasing it.

They pulled into the farm a short time later, the area thankfully empty. Dennet and his teenage son came out to greet them, shaking both their hands. Garrett recognized the look of wide-eyed wonder on the son’s face, similar to the one he had worn several months earlier when meeting Anders for the first time.

Garrett stepped back a bit, looking at Anders again with fresh eyes, much like he imagined the boy was doing now. Anders did cut an imposing figure, even bundled up tight against the cold. He towered over Dennet, standing up straight and confident, with that self-assured air about him that Garrett had come to know as “public” Anders. It was the attitude that made him so famous, and it still occasionally sent a shiver down his spine.

Especially because he knew as soon as they were alone Anders would relax, and all attention would be back on him.

Dennet finally led them around to the back of the house, where a large, impressive sleigh was waiting. Two beautiful, chestnut brown horses were hitched to the front, small clouds encircling their heads with each huff of their breath. The sleigh itself was clearly well-taken care of, polished to a rich red on the outside and leather-padded bench on the inside. Several warm blankets were waiting on the bench.

Anders made his way to the side, preparing to step in when he heard cooing in front of him. He turned to see Garrett standing next to the closest horse, petting its nose and smiling as he whispered nonsense and repeatedly asked the horse if he “was a good boy.”

Dennet came to stand next to Anders, crossing his arms as he stared at Garrett with a mixture of confusion and amusement. Garrett had moved on to the other horse, echoing many of the same words. Anders leaned on the side of the sleigh and watched, fond smile on his face as he waited.

“Your ah… _friend_ seems really fond of horses,” Dennet remarked, giving Anders a sideways glance. “He been around them before?”

Anders shrugged.

“No idea, honestly. He just really likes animals in general, though. If I had known he’d be this excited, I would have taken him horseback riding instead.”

Garrett wandered back over to them, smiling sheepishly as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Sorry,” he smiled. “I’ve only ever seen a horse up close a couple times before.”

Anders smiled in return, brushing Garrett’s hair out of his face as he gestured to the seat.

“Come on, love. Let’s not keep him waiting.”

Garrett stepped into the sleigh first, sliding over so Anders could follow. Dennet hoisted himself into the front seat, picking up the reins as the pair spread the blankets over their laps, snuggling together for warmth. Garrett swung his arm across Anders’ shoulders, pulling the man close.

“Tap my shoulder if you need something,” Dennet said, turning around slightly as he slid on a pair of earmuffs. “Can’t hear anything with these blasted things on, but I value my ears more.”

Anders nodded as Garrett bit his lip to stop himself from laughing.

“Is he really wearing earmuffs?” Garrett whispered as they began to move.

“Shhh,” Anders chuckled. “Lots of people have them.”

“I want a pair.”

Anders sighed, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

“Of course you do, love.”

Dennet informed them that the entire course would last about half an hour and would loop around his farm, up some nearby hills, and through a small valley before returning. Anders glanced around, delighting in the landscape and how much it reminded him of home.

 _This is home now_ , he thought, letting out a sigh of contentment. He entwined his arm with Garrett’s under the blanket as they began to pick up speed, the countryside moving by in a blur.

“Nice, huh?” Anders asked, smiling at Garrett.

“It’s incredible,” Garrett laughed. “I didn’t even know Kirkwall had this much open land. I thought it was all city that sort of just eventually fell into the sea.”

“It’s definitely a lot more beautiful than I realized,” Anders agreed.

They rode in silence for a bit, enjoying the scenery and the crunch of the horses’ hooves on the snow. Anders tilted his face back with a smile, enjoying the biting touch of the cold air on his face.

Garrett, on the other hand, was burrowing his head further into his scarf, trying to cover as much of his face as possible.

“Cold?” Anders murmured. He turned slightly to face Garrett, looping an arm across Garrett’s waist as he nuzzled his face into his neck.

“A little,” came the muffled reply.

“What can I do to warm you up?” Anders smiled, tugging on an errant strand of hair from under Garrett’s hat.

“Hot showers are good.” Anders had to strain to understand him. “Or baths. Think we could fit a bathtub in my apartment?”

“Maybe if we put it in the dining room,” Anders laughed. “Or…a bigger apartment.”

Garrett hummed in acknowledgment but said nothing else. It was a subject the two of them had started whispering about late at night but never broached during the day. But spending two entire weeks together, day and night, they had fallen into an easy routine. One Garrett could imagine staying in permanently.

“Garrett, look – a bear!” Anders gasped, squeezing his side with the hand still resting on his hip.

“Wait, seriously?”

Garrett sat up straighter, craning his neck around as Anders chuckled beside him.

“Nope, sorry. Just you.”

Anders laughed louder as Garrett slumped in his seat.

“Not funny. I got excited for a minute.”

“What, this ride isn’t exciting enough for you?” Anders asked, one eyebrow arching.

“You know what I mean.”

“I don’t think I do,” Anders replied, taking his arm back.

Garrett began to protest when Anders snuck his hand under Garrett’s coat, gripping the waistband of his pants. He tugged once, grinning as his fingers toyed with the top button.

“Tell me how I can make it more exciting,” he purred. Garrett grabbed his hand, stilling it before he could do much more.

“What are you doing?” Garrett hissed, looking around.

“Riding in a sleigh with my boyfriend.”

“You do realize there’s no way I’m getting hard in this weather, right?” Garrett warned, although he hadn’t pushed Anders’ hand away.

“Who said I was trying to get you hard?” Anders smirked. He gripped the edge of Garret’s pants tighter, free hand moving the scarf off of his neck. Garrett tried to protest once more but stilled as that same hand snuck around his shoulders, cupping his head gently.

“Anders…”

“Shhhh, love,” Anders murmured, leaning in to nip at Garrett’s neck. “Just enjoy.”

Garrett moaned quietly as Anders’ tongue swept over the area his teeth had just touched, lips latching onto the spot seconds later. A constant stream of small whimpers and sighs mingled with the wet sound of his lips as he lingered, Garrett squirming under his touch.

Anders’ gloved hand slowly made its way up, tugging Garrett’s coat and shirt away so it could slide against his skin. Garrett shivered as the cold air hit his stomach, Anders chuckling into his ear.

“I’m going to take my glove off, okay?” he rasped, giving Garrett’s neck a final nuzzle before sitting back and yanking the glove off with his teeth. His hand returned immediately, Garrett jolting this time as the cold pads skimmed across his skin as they made their way up higher.

“Anders…” Garrett choked out again, moving to pull Anders’ hand out.

Anders tugged at his earlobe with his teeth, shushing him as his fingers reached a nipple, pinching it lightly.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked softly, rolling it gently between his fingers as Garrett writhed beneath him. “Just say the word.”

Garrett’s head fell back with a moan as Anders gave it another tug, lips back on Garrett’s neck.

“Well?”

“Don’t…fucking stop,” Garrett growled, adjusting himself quickly under the blanket. A motion that didn’t escape Anders’ notice.

“You can touch yourself.”

Garrett barked out a laugh. “Nothing is coming out of these pants in this weather.”

“But you’re warm under the blankets, aren’t you?”

Garrett nodded, and Anders’ hand slipped out from under his shirt, taking one of Garrett’s hands and placing it over his noticeably harder crotch. He massaged the area gently for a moment, Garrett letting out a small moan as he spread his legs a little wider.

“You don’t have to take it out,” Anders murmured, hand leaving Garrett’s behind to move back to it’s previous spot under Garrett’s shirt. “But you can still have some fun.”

His fingers reached the other nipple, giving it a firm but quick pinch causing Garrett to arch his back slightly into the touch. He rested his head on Garrett’s shoulder, eyes trained on the subtle movement of Garrett’s hand under the blanket.

Anders continued his teasing, fingers gliding between the two hard nubs, pinching and tugging exactly the way he knew Garrett liked.

“Feel good, love?” Anders whispered, tilting his head up, small smile playing on his lips.

In one swift movement, Garrett shifted, hand reappearing from under the blanket to clutch Anders’ head as he captured his lips with his own. Anders let out a muffled cry of surprise that quickly turned into a moan as he melted into the kiss, eagerly returning it.

“Yes,” Garrett murmured in between kisses. “But not as good as it’s going to feel when we get home.”

Anders chuckled, sliding his hand from Garrett’s shirt to cup his face, thumb grazing his beard as he pulled Garrett into another kiss.

They remained that way for several minutes, exchanging lazy kisses and adoring smiles as they sped along across the snow.

Garrett was whispering into a slightly flustered Anders’ ear when Dennet cleared his throat in front of them.

“We’ll, ah, be back in about 10 minutes,” he yelled over his shoulder, avoiding looking at them.

Garrett sat back sheepishly, straightening the blankets over his lap while Anders grinned and yelled thank you. He smirked at Garrett, who was either blushing or suddenly got very cold.

They arrived back at the farm, Garrett awkwardly looking everywhere but at Dennet as he thanked him. Anders was totally composed, on the other hand, easily slipping back into his public persona while he signed the ball and chatted kindly with Dennet’s son.

Garrett practically ran to the car once they were done, hopping into the driver’s seat and putting the heat on the highest setting.

“Eager to go, love?” Anders smirked as he buckled himself in.

“Yes,” Garrett shivered, pulling out of the driveway. “Into my nice, warm bed with my nice, warm boyfriend.”

Anders chuckled, leaning his head back against the seat and looking over at him fondly.

“Did you have fun, at least?”

Garrett gave him an incredulous glance before huffing out a laugh.

“I’m pretty sure you could feel how much fun I was having.”

“Not _that_ type of fun,” Anders laughed. “I just meant in general. Your first sleigh ride after your first blizzard…”

“With the first, ah…” Garrett faltered, biting his lip as he grew silent.

“First what?” Anders asked curiously.

“Nothing.”

“No…I want to know.” Anders shifted slightly in his seat to better view Garrett’s face in the near-dark.

“I’ll tell you another time,” Garrett mumbled.

“Garrett…” Anders began, but paused when he saw the nervousness on Garrett’s face. He reached over, laying a reassuring hand on Garrett’s leg.

“Alright, love,” Anders sighed. “As long as you had fun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This uh, ended on a more ominous note than I remembered. Anders is just worried about why Garrett would be so nervous. I had very high hopes for this prompt and it ended up being one of my least favorites, I think. Sadly.


	17. Reading someone Christmas stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrett takes great offense to Anders' lack of Christmas story knowledge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: T - grumpy Garrett could possibly be considered angsty?
> 
> I took some liberties with this one...more of a lead up to reading the stories instead of actually doing it.

“So…I guess since you didn’t really celebrate Christmas, you don’t have a favorite Christmas story. Do you?”

Anders looked up from washing the dishes, glancing at Garrett who was leaning against the counter next to him.

“I can tell you the first few lines from uh…what’s that night before Christmas story?”

Garrett sighed in disappointment.

“That’s it? What about Rudolph?”

“He’s a red-nosed reindeer. Beyond that I have no idea.”

“ _Anders_!” Garrett exclaimed, a hurt look on his face. As if he was personally wounded by Anders’ lack of story awareness.

Anders gave him a steady look before turning back to the dishes.

“Are there any Christmas stories about dogs?”

“ _Probably,”_ Garrett huffed, sulking.

Anders glanced at him, trying not to smile.

“What about dragons?”

“A _Christmas dragon?_ ” Garrett asked in disbelief, rolling his eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Maybe he hoards presents in his cave. _Maybe_ he has dog helpers instead of elves.”

A heavy sigh came from his side, and Anders bit his lip to stop from laughing.

“Just forget I asked,” Garrett muttered, leaving the room. Anders dropped the dishrag in the sink, turning towards his boyfriend as he trudged away.

“Garrett, don’t be like that, love. I was just teasing.”

“It’s fine,” Garrett said without turning around. Anders watched him sprawl out on the floor in the living room next to Woofy, turning the TV on and flipping through the channels. Anders started to follow him but got the impression it would be better if he waited for Garrett’s mood to pass. He felt bad.

Garrett ignored him for most of the afternoon, watching home improvement shows and dozing off in front of the TV. Anders gave him his space, confused as to why he was in such a grumpy mood over a few stories.

He finally approached Garrett a few hours later as they neared dinner time. Garrett was absentmindedly scratching Woofy’s back as what was possibly the tenth episode in a row of House Hunters played on the screen.

“Love?” he asked tentatively, giving Garrett a warm smile. “Do you want to go out to dinner? I bet some restaurants are open. It’ll be my treat.”

“No thanks.”

Anders frowned. It was very rare for them to actually go out to a restaurant together, so he figured Garrett would jump at the chance.

“Well, how about we have something delivered? Or we can order and I’ll pick it up.”

Garrett shrugged, rolling onto his back and looking up at Anders.

“Whatever you want. I’m not that hungry.”

“Garrett,” Anders sighed, sitting down next to him. He scooted closer so Garrett could rest his head in Anders’ lap and he began running his fingers through Garrett’s hair (to the delight of the other man).

“Why are you so upset, love?” he asked quietly. “Because I don’t know Christmas stories? You know I didn’t—“

“It’s not that,” Garrett mumbled, closing his eyes.

He didn’t elaborate. Anders waited a moment, gently removing his hand from Garrett’s hair to caress the side of his face, fingertips lightly tracing the outline of his beard. Garrett gave a little smile and leaned into the touch.

“I have to go to work tomorrow,” he sighed. “And…I don’t know…I’m not ready to give this up.”

“Give what up?”

“This,” Garrett repeated, gesturing between the two of them.

Anders smiled, running his thumb over Garrett’s bottom lip.

“I like staying home with you,” Garrett added quietly.  

Anders resisted the urge to shout in frustration. He didn’t _have_ to go anywhere. Anders knew it was too soon to try and push things – but when had he ever taken things slow? Anders could buy them a house, they could be together whenever they wanted. They practically were now anyway, so why not make it official? And it wasn’t like Garrett _had_ to work…Anders certainly made enough that Garrett would never have to work again, if he didn’t want to.

Garrett let out another small sigh, shifting onto his side.

“Love…” Anders began, stopping short of what he really wanted to say.

“Hmmm?” Garrett looked up into his eyes, and the sadness on his face was enough for Anders to nudge him into a sitting position so he could wrap his arms around him from behind and hold him close.

“I’ll be right here when you get home,” he whispered.

“…Really?”

Garrett turned so he was facing Anders, looking at him with guarded hope. Anders chuckled, giving him a long, lingering kiss.

“Where did you think I’d be?” he teased lightly. “Someone needs to keep Woofy company.”

The dog looked over and thumped his tail a few times upon hearing his name, and Garrett’s face lit up.

“Oh good,” he smiled. “I was worried he was going to be upset.”

“We’ll spend some quality time together,” Anders chuckled, giving him another small kiss. “Don’t you worry about it. Now how about I order us some food and we watch that movie?”

* * *

Food was ordered and Anders offered to pick it up himself, telling Garrett to set the table and pick out a movie for them to watch that evening. Garrett seemed to be in much better spirits during dinner, and Anders caught him several times giving him a tender smile.

They settled down in front of the TV, much like they had done every night for the past few weeks, and Garrett pulled up the movie options (“No dragon movies, love,” Anders had warned).

“How about Rudolph?” Garrett grinned.

“Mmmm, I don’t think I want to watch it before I read the book,” Anders mused.

“But…” Garrett sighed in defeat. “I don’t have the books here, Beth has them all.”

Garrett’s face fell and he slumped back into the couch slightly, scrolling through the rest of the options on the screen.

Anders smiled, resting a hand on Garrett’s leg and squeezing gently.

“Love…” he began, waiting for Garrett to look at him. He reached under the couch, pulling out a square, wrapped package. “Here.”

Garrett furrowed his brow, looking between Anders’ face and the package.

“You can put it under the tree,” Garrett said slowly. “Woofy won’t bother it.”

“It’s for now,” Anders grinned. “Open it.”

Garrett took it hesitantly, looking at Anders again before tearing off the paper. His eyes widened as he looked at the objects in his hands before breaking out in a surprised laugh.

“Do you like it?” Anders asked, looking at Garrett nervously.

Garrett shuffled through the stack of books on his lap, nodding in delight.

“I bought one of everything they had in the holiday section of the store,” Anders explained. “I…wasn’t sure what you had, so I decided to play it safe.”

The pleased grin hadn’t left Garrett’s face as he continued to look through the pile, finally holding up a copy of Rudolph.

“So, I guess we should start with this one, huh?” Garrett asked, peering over the top of the book with wide eyes.

Anders smiled, pushing the book down enough to lean over and press a small kiss to his lips before settling himself into Garrett’s side.

“Only if you read it to me,” he replied. “I need the full effect.”

Garrett placed the rest of the books on the table, wrapping one arm around Anders’ shoulders as he opened the book in front of them.

“If you want the _full_ effect, I’ll have to read the characters in different voices. Are you sure you’re prepared for that?”

Garrett looked at him, one eyebrow raised as he gave Anders an impish grin. Anders closed his eyes and sighed in resignation before smiling and resting his head on Garrett’s shoulder.

“I don’t think anything could have prepared me for you, Garrett.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wouldn't it be funny if they didn't move in together? 
> 
> I'll just uh...hide over here.


	18. Falling asleep by the fireplace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys spend the day apart for the first time in weeks, and Anders decides to have a present waiting for when Garrett gets home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: E - ahahaha uh sex. Lots of sex. 
> 
> I will mention that Anders is slightly more blunt/demanding than we've seen in the past, but it's not anything noncon/dubcon or even really overly dom (to me, anyway). I also probably worried about it more than I needed to cause it's honestly not that bad lol. I just know a lot of people are here for the fluff so I don't want it to be too jarring. I will shut up now.
> 
> Also, this is a long one -insert bad jokes here-

“Ever since you mentioned a fire I’ve been wishing for a fireplace,” Garrett sighed as he pulled on his clothes. “It’s so chilly in here.”

“You want a fireplace in the bedroom?” Anders smirked, lacing up his shoes.

“Well…that would be nice,” Garrett huffed. “But I meant in general. I’m making sure it’s at the top of my list when I get a new place. Along with a bathroom I can move in.”

“I’ve seen you move pretty well in there when you want to.”

Garrett blushed and ignored the comment as he fixed his hair in the mirror.

“Are you sure you don’t mind driving me?”

“Nope,” Anders replied, giving him a fond smile. “I have a couple errands to run, then I’ll swing by my apartment for a while. Make sure my car is still there, all that good stuff. It probably misses me.”

Garrett paused, a worried look flashing across his face for a second before disappearing again. But not before Anders caught sight of it.

“And then I’ll come back here and play with Woofy,” he said, walking over to wrap his arms around Garrett. “Then you call me when you’re ready to come home and I’ll pick you up. Sound good?”

“Yeah,” Garrett murmured, bringing one of Anders’ hands up to his mouth and giving it a quick kiss. “Just don’t have too much fun without me.”

Anders laughed quietly, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“How could I? Say hi to Beth.”

* * *

Anders dropped a very mopey and reluctant Garrett off at the bakery a short time later. He had a feeling with the amount of work awaiting him he would forget about his sadness fairly quickly.

Anders, meanwhile, had other plans.

He made a beeline to his apartment first, confirming that yes, his car was still there and his apartment untouched. It was cold and had the air of a place rarely used. None of the hominess of Garrett’s apartment, despite his being a fraction of the size of Anders’ own.

He began cleaning up a bit, throwing in his dirty laundry and picking some clean clothes to bring back to Garrett’s with him. He had just begun to clean out the refrigerator when he felt his phone buzz in his back pocket.

**Garrett:** _Beth is teasing me_

Anders grinned. He had hoped Garrett would get back into the swing of things, and a rambunctious sister might be just what he needs.

**Anders:** _About? Tell her to be nice or no presents_

**Garrett:** _She said I’m walking funny. This is your fault._

Anders burst into laughter as an angry face emoji appeared a second later. Poor Garrett.

**Anders:** _tell her it’s from shoveling snow. Or playing with Woofy_

**Anders:** _there’s plenty of other reasons you could be walking weird_

**Garrett:** _……_

**Garrett:** _wish I had thought of that earlier_

Anders sighed, still grinning as he typed back.

**Anders:** _sorry, love. Guess she knows what we’ve been up to_

**Garrett:** _I’ll get my revenge. Gotta go, talk to you later_

Anders replied with a heart before putting the phone back in his pocket and turning his attention back to the fridge. The sooner he got this place in order, the sooner he could leave.

The thought had latched itself into his brain and refused to budge. Why was he going through all of this trouble? He was essentially making his apartment as desolate as possible, assuming he would be spending the next few days at Garrett’s. He cleaned out the fridge, unplugged any non-essential electronics, packed up a bag with fresh clothes and other necessities…and had absolutely no desire to come back here.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt like he needed to broach the subject to Garrett, at least once, to see if it was anywhere in the realm of possibility. He had a feeling that Garrett would be open to the idea…but the man was also hard to read sometimes. Short of asking him directly, Anders could only think of one other person who could help.

**Anders:** _love, can I have Bethany’s number when you get a chance? I want to ask her about a gift_

Garrett’s response was immediate.

**Garrett:** _Oooooh, what are you getting me?_

**Anders:** _I didn’t say it was for you. You already told me what you want, remember?_

The pause was longer this time. He knew he probably shouldn’t be bothering Garrett at work but he wasn’t going to be able to shake the thought all day.

**Garrett:** _Beth says she doesn’t know anything ever so you better just tell me_

Anders sighed and rubbed his eyes. He should have known better.

His phone buzzed again a few seconds later with what he assumed was Bethany’s phone number and a message saying he needed to get back to work. Anders put the number into his phone, sending Beth a quick message.

**Anders:** _can we talk when Garrett isn’t around? I want to ask you something_

**Bethany** : _sure…it’s something good, right?_

**Anders:** _I hope so :) that’s what I want to know_

**Bethany** : _I get done before Garrett today, I’ll call you_

Anders finished up at his apartment, smiling as an idea began forming in his mind. Garrett was sure to come home in a tired, achy, cranky mood…it was the least he could do to make his boyfriend comfortable after a day like today. Anders hopped back into the car and made his way to the closest home improvement store, hoping they had what he needed.

* * *

Anders spoke to Bethany a few hours later, the conversation fairly vague but enough for Anders to garner an idea of Garrett’s mentality. And Bethany was clever. She knew what Anders was fishing for almost immediately.

“Just…maybe don’t bring it up right away,” Bethany said. “And I wouldn’t make any plans before talking to him first. He can get…overwhelmed.”

“I just want to make sure I won’t make an ass out of myself if I bring it up.”

Bethany giggled from the other line. “I don’t think you have to worry about that. Just think it through, get some ideas. Maybe wait until the holidays are done? Or…you weren’t planning on this being his gift, were you?”

Anders groaned. “No. No, I have a gift for him already. I’ll get more, but this wasn’t one of them.”

“He didn’t ask for another dog, did he?”

“In a way,” Anders laughed. “You know your brother is ridiculous, right?”

“And you love him.” He could hear the smile in Bethany’s voice.

“Yeah,” Anders replied softly. “I do.”

* * *

The text came from Garrett a few hours after Anders hung up with Beth. A plaintive text that read, “Save me from the dough.”

It was already dark when he pulled up to the front of the bakery, Garrett peering out of the door like a small child. They stopped and picked up some take-out on the way home, Garrett already half asleep and whining about needing a shower.

Anders tried to remain casual as they pulled up to the apartment, the excitement at his surprise growing. Garrett was still grumbling as he put the key in the lock but was stopped short by a very happy Woofy running to greet him.

“Hey, buddy!” Garrett exclaimed, flinging the bag with the food off to the side as he knelt down to scratch the dog. “Did you miss me? Did you have fun with Anders?”

Woofy wagged his tail as he licked Garrett’s face several times, Anders smirking as he picked up the bag and side-stepped the pair.

“Do you want to shower or eat first, love?” Anders called from the kitchen.

“Eat then shower, I’m starving,” Garrett replied as he walked into the kitchen, not even bothering to glance into the living room.

They ate in the kitchen, nonchalantly chatting about their days. Anders told him about his apartment (“dark and cold”) and Garrett told him about work (“Sandal hugged me for a solid three minutes”).

Anders began cleaning up, Garrett stretching and already starting to pull off his shirt.

“I’m going to shower,” he said, making his way towards the bedroom. “Then maybe we can…what’s that?”

Anders smiled to himself, quickly turning his face into a mask of innocence.

“What’s what, love?”

Garrett pulled his shirt back on as he walked into the living room, Anders following a short distance behind.

“That…thing Woofy’s lying in front of. Is that…”

Anders leaned over one of the chairs, resting his elbows on the back and smiling as Garrett walked slowly over to the large wooden object on the far wall. Woofy got up as Garrett got closer, wagging his tail once more.

“Is this…a _fireplace?_ ” He looked over at Anders incredulously, the other man nodding his head as he stood up straight.

“I know it’s not a _real_ fireplace,” Anders began, herding Woofy into the bedroom. “But, well…I didn’t think building a chimney was a viable option right now.”

He grinned as he joined Garrett, both looking at it in silence.

“It looks so real,” Garrett whispered, reaching out to touch it. “You would never know. Aside from the whole lack of wood thing.”

“That is sort of the best part,” Anders admitted. “But I thought this would do for now.”

He shut off the lamps, plugging in the Christmas tree so the only illumination in the room came from the twinkling lights and the flickering artificial fire.

“We can hang our stockings from here!” Garrett exclaimed, face lighting up. “I haven’t been able to do that since I was a kid.”

“Do you like it?” Anders smiled, taking him into his arms.

“It must have cost a fortune,” Garrett frowned as Anders gave him a small kiss on his chin. “You shouldn’t have spent all that money on—“

“Garrett,” Anders interrupted. “You know that doesn’t matter. What _does_ matter is you liking it.”

Garrett opened his mouth to protest, glancing at the fireplace once more before sighing in defeat, giving Anders a warm smile.

“I love it.”

“Good,” Anders murmured, leaning forward to bury his face in the crook of Garrett’s neck. “Because I love you.”

Garrett let out a strangled noise, fingers clutching Anders’ shirt as he began planting small kisses along Garrett’s neck.

“I…”

“You don’t have to say it back,” Anders whispered. “That’s not why I said it.”

“I know,” Garrett said quickly, pulling back. “But I _do_. You know I do, right?” His eyes began frantically darting around everywhere except at Anders’ face as he fidgeted.

“You do so much for me,” he continued, shifting his gaze to the floor as he shuffled his feet. “I probably don’t tell you enough. And I _should_ , cause I know I’m not… You could have _anyone_ —“

“Garrett,” Anders said firmly, lifting his chin so that Garrett finally looked at him. “We’ve been through this.”

“I love you,” Garrett blurted out, eyes widening at his own words.

Anders laughed quietly, pressing a tender kiss to Garrett’s lips.

“I know,” he whispered. “Now come here.”

Anders gently pushed Garrett down until he was lying flat on the floor, pillow under his head, before he straddled his waist, giving him a slow smile as he ran his hands down Garrett’s chest. He gripped the hem of his shirt and pulled it off, Garrett hissing slightly at the rush of cold air, body involuntarily turning towards the warmth of the fireplace.

Anders pulled his own shirt off, running a hand through his hair as he gazed down at his boyfriend who was now tugging at the button on his pants. Anders swatted his hand away with a small laugh.

“In time, love,” he murmured, shifting himself down so he could undo Garrett’s pants instead. The other man groaned as his legs were freed, automatically reaching down to palm himself through the thin cotton layer that remained.

“Let me,” Anders whispered, spreading Garrett’s legs so he could rest between them.

He pulled Garrett’s boxers down in one movement, dick already resting heavy against his thigh. Anders let his tongue dart out, licking a line up Garrett’s cock as the man shivered beneath him. He gingerly took the head into his mouth, Garrett letting out a long groan as his hands twitched, resisting the urge to grab Anders’ head and hold him down.

Anders slowly swallowed the length, bobbing his head as Garrett began to writhe on the floor.

“And—Anders…” Garrett choked out, hips bucking into his lover’s mouth. Anders hummed around his cock, Garrett crying out and rolling his hips again before giving in and resting one hand on the back of Anders’ head. Anders immediately locked eyes with him, giving his head a brief shake before Garrett let go and Anders pulled back.

“Relax, love,” Anders smiled, kissing Garrett’s hips from one side to the other. “Just let me make you feel good.”

“You know what would make me feel good?” Garrett rasped out as Anders lightly bit his way up his body. “Your mouth back around my dick.”

“Hmmm,” Anders chuckled, flicking a nipple with his tongue. “What about my dick in your ass? That doesn’t feel good anymore?”

“Fuck, yes it does,” Garrett groaned as Anders’ lips latched onto the other nipple. “Yes, just like that, _fuck_.”

Anders teased for a few moments longer before removing his mouth, moving up to kiss Garrett in earnest. Garrett wrapped his arms around him, returning the kiss with fervor as Anders began undulating their hips in a steady, lazy rhythm.

“You’re so beautiful,” he moaned, kissing his way across Garrett’s jaw. “So perfect. How do I deserve you?”

He nestled his face against the nape of Garrett’s neck, giving him another nip and making him cry out and clutch Anders tighter. Anders continued to kiss his way down Garrett’s neck to his collarbone, murmuring into his skin the entire time.

“I just want to make you feel good, love,” his moans mingling with Garrett’s. “Just want to make you happy.”

“You do,” Garrett panted, now grinding their hips together impatiently. “You always do. But right now I want you to fuck me.”

“No,” Anders panted, shifting back to remove the rest of his clothes before taking the lube and condom from his pocket. Garrett gave him a small grin.

“Came prepared?”

“I plan ahead,” Anders chuckled, pouring some of the liquid onto his fingers. “And tonight I want you to fuck me.”

“Are…you sure?” Garrett asked uncertainly, hands resting on Anders’ hips.

“Yes,” Anders sighed as he inserted a finger slowly into himself, pumping quicker than Garrett imagined was comfortable. A second finger was soon added, Anders’s expression flickering between pleasure and pain as he groaned.  

“There’s no rush, you know,” Garrett finally choked out, eyes fixated on Anders’ hand.

“I don’t want to wait,” Anders gasped in reply. His movements did slow somewhat, locking eyes with Garrett as his fingers turned and stretched with every push inside. His breaths were coming in short, shallow bursts, body slowly gaining a thin sheen of sweat.

Garrett could do nothing but watch, his dick out of reach and Anders not allowing him to help. He let slip a breathy “ _fuck_ ” as Anders pulled his fingers out with a low groan.

“Are you ready?” he murmured, Garrett enthusiastically nodding his head yes.

Anders slicked Garrett’s cock, gripping his shaft tightly before sinking down, crying out against the pain and the burn as he was stretched open. Garrett’s breath was already coming fast, sweat breaking out across his body as he willed himself to hold still until Anders gave him permission to move.

Anders poured lube onto his own cock as he slowly continued his way down, letting out a small whimper as he sank to the hilt.

“Now…fuck me.”

Garrett’s hands clutched Anders’ waist and he drove his hips up once, hard. Anders cried out again, head thrown back as he took his dick in his hand and began pumping.

“ _Fuck_ , yes, Garrett,” he growled, stroking himself roughly. “ _Harder_.”

“You’re…going to come before me if you keep going like that,” Garrett panted, eyes trained on Anders’ hand once more.

“Then I’ll just have to come more than once,” Anders smirked as he sunk down again. “Now _fuck. Me._ ”

Garrett grabbed his hips, fingers digging into the sides, sure to leave marks the next day. It only spurred Anders on more, releasing another few nonsensical shouts of pleasure as his hand flew over his cock. After a few more pumps he came loudly all over Garrett’s chest, body never pausing as Garrett drove into him.

“Fuck, I love seeing you covered in my come,” Anders moaned, running the fingertips of one hand across the mess on Garrett’s chest. The other hand continued to pump his still partially erect cock and Garrett’s thrusts became harder and more erratic.

“Not going to last, love,” Garrett moaned. “You feel…so fucking good, _FUCK.”_

With a few more short, hard thrusts he came, shouting and arching his back off of the floor. Anders continued to stroke himself, barely controlling his hunger for the other man. He stared at Garrett’s face as his body twisted in pleasure, almost coming again from the sight alone.

As soon as Garrett relaxed he was moving, his cock in front of Garrett’s lips.

“Suck,” he demanded, moaning as he leaned over and Garrett took his dick in his mouth, whimpering around it.

“Fuck yes, love, suck my cock,” Anders growled, shoving his hips roughly into Garrett’s mouth. “You feel so fucking good, Garrett…I want to come down your throat.”

Garrett’s hands came to rest on Anders’ ass, squeezing as he pushed him farther into his mouth.

“You want more of my cock?” Anders grunted, gripping Garrett’s hair and holding him in place as he thrust faster. “I know you do, you fucking love it.”

Garrett was staring at him with wide eyes, small moans and whimpers coming from his throat as Anders repositioned himself slightly to better fuck into his mouth. He continued to roll his hips, wanting so badly to go slow and enjoy the feeling of his lover’s hot mouth wrapped around his cock, but he was already too far gone.

“Oh _fuck yes_ ,” Anders cried out, head thrown back as his hips twitched and he came down Garrett’s throat. The other man began choking, come running out of his mouth and down his chin.

Anders pulled out, breathing heavily as he stared at the mess on Garrett’s face.

“Fuck, love, I could come again just looking at you,” he groaned, repeating his earlier thoughts before collapsing onto his side next to the other man.

They were both breathing deeply as they curled up next to each other, sticky and exhausted. Garrett shivered, moving closer to the fireplace for warmth as the chill in the air mingled with his wet skin.

“I guess we should get cleaned up,” Anders murmured sleepily, stretching until he could pull a blanket down from the couch. He covered them both, wrapping an arm around Garrett’s waist and pulling him close.

“Mmhmm,” came the sleepy reply next to him. Anders gave him a small kiss on his shoulder, ignoring the discomfort of the floor and the cold and focusing on holding his lover in his arms.

“Garrett?” he whispered a few minutes later. He received no response aside from the deep, regular breathing that he was so accustomed to hearing now at night.

Anders grabbed another pillow for himself and curled up tighter around Garrett’s body, joining him in sleep moments later. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DO YOU LOVE ME AGAIN?? I hope this chapter made you feel better after the ending of the last one <3 lmao. I feel like half the reason I wrote the smut was to help balance out the cavity-inducing sweetness from Anders.
> 
> This one felt like a chapter of CL instead of a prompt...I didn't intend for it to be this long, but I'm going to assume that's okay with everyone lol.
> 
> In the event anyone is curious, [this is what ](http://www.goedekers.com/Dimplex-SEP-BW-4217-FB.html?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=pla&utm_campaign=Furniture&zmam=34103103&zmas=2&zmac=1&zmap=Dimplex-SEP-BW-4217-FB&gclid=CjwKEAiA18mzBRCo1e_-y_KLpXISJACEsANGGOWJGDKvBltADd63L2qQM7tt8aA_Cb2jSfkCk_cSkRoCgtPw_wcB) I imagine the fireplace to be like.


	19. Baking Christmas cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrett decides to indulge Anders once he discovers his boyfriend has never baked cookies before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: T - language, some innuendo. Mostly fluff.

“Do I have…” Garrett muttered to himself as he dug through one of the top cabinets. Anders peeked into the kitchen to see a wide variety of ingredients spread across the counters in bottles and containers of various sizes. Not knowing much at all about baking, he wasn’t entirely sure what Garrett was planning on making…other than it was most likely a dessert. 

“Need help?” 

Garrett jumped, whirling around to face Anders and nearly whacking his head into the open cabinet door.

“No, just looking for a spice,” he smiled.

Anders walked over, picking up random containers and reading the labels.

“You even broke out your nice mixer. What’s the occasion?”

“I just want to make some cookies,” Garrett laughed, turning back to the open cabinet. “Gingerbread, specifically. But I can’t seem to find the all-spice…”

“I don’t know what that is,” Anders commented, twirling a bowl. “But I _do_ know I like gingerbread.”

“Really?” Garrett’s face lit up as he glanced at Anders over his shoulder. “I was hoping you did. It’s my favorite. You should see how fast we sell out at the bakery.”

“I bet,” Anders chuckled. “Are you making gingerbread men? Houses? …Dogs?”

“I might not be making _anything_ if I can find this stupid fucki-- oh, here it is.”

He pulled a tiny canister from the corner of the cabinet, grinning as he set it next to the other pile of ingredients. It seemed like an awful lot for a cookie. To Anders, cookies were flour, sugar, water…maybe some chocolate chips? He had no idea; the few times he had actually baked (few as in maybe twice) they had come pre-mixed.

“Do you have a preference?” Garrett was asking.

“Men.”

“I was asking about the cookies, not your sexuality,” Garrett grinned.

“And _I_ was talking about both, ass.” Anders laughed. “Although it doesn’t matter to me.”

He hopped up on the counter on the far side of the kitchen, out of – what he hoped – was Garrett’s way. He rarely got a chance to see him bake, since he usually didn’t do so at home, and he didn’t want to miss the opportunity.

Anders was about to open his mouth and make another snide comment when he noticed Garrett had paused, looking at him fondly.

“What?” Anders frowned, glancing around him. “What did I do?”

Garrett chuckled, walking over and running his hands up Anders’ thighs before kissing him softly.

“Nothing,” he whispered. “It just reminded me of the first time you saw me cook. Remember?”

“How could I forget?” Anders grinned. “You won me over with chocolate and peanut butter.”

Garrett nodded, still smiling.

“You were sitting on the front counter, just like this,” he murmured. “I was panicking, and you were so cool and calm…and incredibly sexy.”

He laughed, shaking his head at the memory as Anders grinned at him.

“Little did I know what I was getting myself into,” Garrett teased lightly, giving him another kiss.

“What? Being stuck in your apartment with me fucking your brains out for over two weeks? I can think of worse things.” Anders winked at him, laughing. “Although…I think it’s more like little did you know what was going to be getting into you…”

Garrett groaned and rolled his eyes, walking back to the waiting ingredients.

“Bad jokes are my department, love,” he said, grabbing a bowl. “Let me handle the baking and poorly thought-out humor.”

“Do you want me to stay, or will I be in your way?”

Garrett glanced at him as he measured out some flour.

“Up to you. It won’t be very exciting,” he said, pouring it into the bowl. “After I make the dough it has to sit in the fridge for a few hours, so we won’t be actually baking for a while.”

“I’ll stay anyway.”

They made some small talk, Garrett explaining bits and pieces of what he was doing as he went along. Anders eventually moved closer to the action so he could peer over Garrett’s shoulder as the dough came together.

“It smells good already,” he grinned, reaching out to poke the dark brown lump.

Garrett hummed in agreement as he wrapped up the slabs of dough to be placed in the refrigerator.

They decided to watch a movie and ended up falling asleep together on the couch afterwards. Garrett awoke first, running a hand over his face as he came back to reality. He began to get up, trying his best not to disturb Anders, when he felt the other man’s arm clench around his waist.

“You’re warm,” he mumbled sleepily, attempting to pull Garrett back towards him.

“It’s also four in the afternoon, and we slept through lunch,” Garrett chuckled, not bothering to resist. He rolled onto his side so they were facing each other, Anders giving him a small kiss on his chin.

“My beard appreciates the love.”

Anders chuckled, burrowing closer.

“We still need to bake,” Garrett mused, tracing lazy circles on Anders’ arm with his fingers. “Or I need to bake, you need to watch.”

“Help,” Anders’ muffled voice corrected from where it was pressed into Garrett’s chest.

“Okay, help,” Garrett grinned. “Why don’t we grab an early dinner and I can pick up a few things at the store?”

“Mmkay,” Anders replied, propping himself up on an elbow.

Garrett burst into laughter at the sight, Anders’ hair a disheveled mess and lines pressed into his face. The other man sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Let me at least make myself presentable,” he said, nudging Garrett out of the way.

“Take your time,” Garrett snickered, Anders shooting him a look as he smoothed his hair down.

They grabbed some take-out and made a quick stop at the corner store for “supplies,” as Garrett called them, and then were ready to resume the cookie-making process.

“First things first,” Garrett began, dropping one of the slabs of dough on the counter to unthaw a bit. “What did we decide on? People? Houses?”

“I’ve never made any of them,” Anders shrugged, almost shyly. “So whatever you want, love.”

Garrett tied on his apron and studied him for a moment before reaching for the flour.

“Both it is, then.”

Anders chuckled, standing slightly off to the side as Garrett began rolling out the dough, expertly measuring and slicing out pieces for the house.

“You really know what you’re doing,” Anders remarked, watching in amazement as Garrett worked. "You do this often?”

“Mmhmm,” Garrett hummed without pausing. “Every year. I make five or six and display them in the bakery window.”

Anders made a small noise of acknowledgement as Garrett began laying out pieces on the pan.

“I guess not this year though,” he continued with a small frown. He turned to Anders a moment later, giving him a bright smile. “So we’ll have to make up for it.”

Anders returned the smile, leaning on the counter. Garrett handed him the first pan, featuring two sides of the house, gesturing for him to put it in the oven.

“I think I can handle that,” Anders smirked.

Garrett quickly cut out the remaining sides and pieces of the roof, Anders watching, enthralled.

“You’re really good, love.”

Garrett furrowed his brow momentarily, unsure if Anders was teasing or not.

“It’s not hard. Just a bunch of straight lines.”

“Sure,” Anders agreed. “But you know exactly where to cut and how much. I would need rulers and measurements and all sorts of things…and might have still gotten it wrong.”

Garrett gave him a lopsided smile, blushing.

“Wait til we start decorating, if you want to be impressed,” he replied proudly.

Anders couldn’t resist leaning forward and giving him a brief kiss on the cheek.

“Hey,” Garrett laughed, “no distracting the chef.”

He reached into the bag of flour, scooping a bit on his fingers and swiping them across the bridge of Anders’ nose.

Anders yelped in surprise, swatting his hand away as Garrett laughed louder.

“Keep the flour on your own face,” he huffed, wiping it off.

“Oh, I always seem to have something there,” Garrett grinned, going back to the dough.

They made quick work of it, and before long the cooling racks were spread all over the kitchen, piled high with cookies.

“How long until we can eat them?” Anders asked impatiently, reaching out to break an arm off of one of the gingerbread men.

“Not yet!” Garrett said, grabbing his wrist before he could maim the poor thing.

Anders glanced at Garrett’s hand holding his wrist, then up at his face, slow smile spreading across his own. Garrett immediately let go, backing up a step.

“Hmmm, is someone feeling…assertive, tonight?” Anders purred, looking Garrett up and down as the other man hit into the opposite counter.

“About my cookies, yes,” Garrett nodded, biting his lip to keep from laughing as Anders stalked closer.

“That all?”

Garrett pretended to think for a minute.

“Right now, yes,” he said. “But ask me again in a few hours.”

Anders grinned, hand darting out quickly to grab a cookie, shoving it into his mouth with wide eyes before Garrett could stop him.

“Hey!” Garrett yelled before bursting into laughter. “You’ve been hanging around me too long. Picking up my bad habits.”

“On the plus side,” Anders said, brushing a crumb from his cheek. “They are delicious. Good job, love.”

Garrett stuck his chest out with pride, giving Anders a pleased grin.

“Good to know,” he replied. “I think we can start on the house now.”

They brought all the pieces to the dining room table, Garrett setting up a workstation while Anders retrieved the icing and candy.

Garrett let Anders do most of the work while he gave instructions, relishing in how delicately Anders handled the cookies in his barely-contained enthusiasm. He would give Garrett a delighted smile every time the walls managed to stay up. He was like a kid, Garrett thought. And it was adorable.

“We have to let the sides dry for a bit before we put on the roof,” Garrett explained, Anders’ face falling in disappointment. “But we can start icing the gingerbread men in the meantime.”

Anders perked up at that, eagerly accepting the bag of icing and his own tray of cookies. They chatted happily as they worked, Garrett noticing how Anders would check the sides of the house every few minutes to see if they had dried enough yet.

They managed to ice all of the gingerbread men in between placing the roof pieces on the house, Anders impatiently waiting for it to dry enough that they could decorate.

“Love, I usually let the houses sit overnight to dry, just to be safe,” Garrett said gently after a while. Anders was resting his chin on his hands on the table, staring at the house. “We should go relax for a bit and let it dry.”

“Please don’t make me watch the dragon movie again,” he groaned, flopping back in his chair.

Garrett gave him a mock glare before reaching out a hand and pulling him to his feet.

“We can watch what you want.”

Anders sighed, giving one wistful glance back at the plain house before nodding. They spent the next couple hours flipping through the channels, stopping on whatever looked interesting as Anders’ patience wore thin.

“That’s it,” Anders finally huffed, tossing the remote at Garrett. “I’m going to start putting some damn M&Ms on that house.”

Garrett snorted, hiding his laughter behind his hand as he followed Anders, grabbing the remaining icing on the way. Anders had already dumped out several of the small bags of candy and began sorting through them, dividing them into piles.

“Do you want me to show you all the tips and tricks?” Garrett grinned, popping a marshmallow into his mouth.

“Umm…” Anders began, furrowing his brow in concentration as he studied the house.

“I want it to look nice,” he finally said. “So how about you do all the fancy stuff and just tell me where I should put the candy.

Garrett chuckled, leaning over to give Anders a tender but lingering kiss.

“Watch and learn, love.”


	20. Finding a present for that person that is impossible to find a present for

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrett is at the end of his rope trying to come up with a present for Anders. Luckily, Bethany is there to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: T - bit of angst and language
> 
> No Anders in this chapter!

“You seem distracted, Gare.”

Garrett continued to arrange the freshly-baked cakes in the display case, oblivious to his sister’s words.

“Garrett?”

“Huh?” he frowned, looking over. “Sorry, what?”

Bethany grinned, crossing her arms as she leaned against the counter. Work was slow. Even though the roads were passable many of the local businesses were still closed or only open part of the day and the lack of customers led to very long, tedious shifts. Bodahn had agreed to close early each day, to Garrett’s delight, but there was still plenty of work to do in the meantime.

“I said you seem distracted. Something going on?”

“No. Yes? I don’t know what to get Anders for Christmas.”

He sighed, brushing the loose strands of hair out of his face. Bethany shot him a sympathetic look, although she said nothing.

“I mean…” he continued, closing the case. “What do you get someone who can literally buy whatever he wants? How am I supposed to compete with that?”

“Why does it have to be a competition? Why can’t you just get him something you think he’d like?”

Garrett let out a groan of frustration, pulling another tray off of the cart.

“Because I don’t _know_ what he likes, okay?” he lamented. “He likes baseball. He likes cats. He kind of likes cooking? I don’t…”

“He likes you,” Beth offered, smiling.

“So I’m, what? Supposed to wrap myself up?” Garrett rolled his eyes as he started placing more food in the case.

“Besides, he already has me,” he muttered. “What kind of gift is that?”

Bethany was silent for a moment as she thought. Garrett seemed honestly distressed, so it had obviously been weighing on him a lot.

“Maybe you’re thinking about it all wrong, Gare,” she said gently. “Instead of buying him an object, why not do something for him?”

Garrett paused, looking at her curiously.

“I mean…” she began, tapping her finger on her lips. “Is there someplace you both want to go? Like far away? I can take care of Woofy.”

Her smile faded as Garrett shook his head.

“I don’t think so. Plus, he travels so much during the season, I think he’s tired of it.” He sighed again as he put the next tray away. “Trust me, Bethy, I’ve been over it a hundred times. The only thing I can think of that he would like is a cat. And he can’t have a cat when he’s away from home so much and living alone. So it’s not even an option.”

Bethany bit her lip, quickly turning away before Garrett could see her face. Not that he was paying any attention to her, moping as he was. She couldn’t reveal anything Anders had told her the day before, that much was obvious. But maybe she could…help them along?

She giggled to herself, quickly wiping the grin from her face as she turned back around.

“Gare?”

“What?” he sighed, wiping his hands on his apron. “I need to help Sandal.”

“No you don’t,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “We haven’t had anyone in here all morning and the cases are stocked. You can waste a few minutes with your favorite sister.”

She gave him her most charming smile, grinning wider when Garrett cracked one of his own.

“Yes, my darling, _only_ sister?”

“Welllll…” she drawled, fiddling with a pen on the counter. “Have you considered, you know…actually living together?”

Garrett stiffened, face becoming blank as he turned away.

“Not an option, Bethy. You know I can’t afford a place big enough for the both of us.”

“But _he could_ , Garrett!” she exclaimed, walking closer. “It doesn’t have to be something fancy! Just enough room for the both of you to live.”

“And dog-friendly.”

Bethany closed her eyes and sighed as she shook her head.

“ _And_ dog-friendly. Come on, Garrett, you know what I mean. Why don’t you just bring it up?”

“And say what, Bethany?” he retorted, voice rising in anger. “’Hey, I want to live with you but you have to buy me a house cause I can’t’? You know I won’t do that.”

“That’s not what I was suggesting,” Bethany growled, her own voice taking on a sharp edge. “I’m _suggesting_ you grow the hell up and stop being so proud. You can more than pull your own weight and you know it.”

She paused, staring him down.

“I think you’re just scared.”

“ _Scared of what?_ ” Garrett roared, throwing his hands in the air. “We practically live together now! He stays over almost every night and half of his things are at my place, so I don’t know what the _fuck_ you’re talking about.”

Bethany said nothing, crossing her arms as she raised an eyebrow, giving him a little smirk.

“ _Fuck_ …we kind of live together.”

Garrett ran his fingers through his hair as he paced the small area behind the counter. He noticed Sandal standing in the doorway to the kitchen, staring at him with wide eyes until Bethany shooed him away.

“What am I supposed to do, Beth?”

He gave her a pleading look as he bent over the counter, holding his head in his hands.

“Well, let’s think about it logically,” she began, rubbing soothing circles on his back. “And let’s start with the basics. Do you _want_ to live together?”

“I do,” Garrett sighed, dipping his head even further towards the countertop. “But do you think he does? Being stuck with me and Woofy around the clock? I guess I just thought…cause of the snow…I don’t know.”

Bethany rolled her eyes behind his back, rubbing a little harder than she needed to the next time around.

“Let’s pretend he _does_ want to. What’s it like with him there now? If you’re ‘practically living together’ as you say.”

“I love it,” Garrett admitted, smiling despite himself. “I love waking up next to him, knowing I’ll be going to sleep next to him that night. We take turns cooking and he helps with Woofy. And then we usually curl up together on the couch at night and watch TV.”

He paused for a moment, thinking.

“We fell into a routine so easily. It feels so natural…”

He drifted off, blushing slightly as Bethany smiled.

“And it’s comfortable, being there together? No bumping into each other or fighting for space?”

“Nope,” he shook his head. “I mean, he has a bunch of clothes at my place, and shoes and toiletries and stuff like that. All the big stuff is at his place. He has a lot of _nice_ stuff. I don’t…I don’t think there would be room for everything.”

He frowned, this time flushing in embarrassment instead.

“I’m not part of that lifestyle. I don’t want fancy furniture or art—“

“We’ve all seen the dragon painting, Gare. We know.”

She frowned as Garrett ignored her comment, squeezing his eyes shut tight.

“It wouldn’t work, Bethy,” he said quietly. “I can’t give him what he needs.”

Bethany felt her heart ache for her brother, torn between sharing her conversation with Anders and letting him be. She opted for the middle road instead.

“You can, Gare,” she murmured. “You’re being too hard on yourself. Do you think he’d still be with you if he felt that way? You’ve both gone through too much together for him to suddenly say, ‘This has been great, Garrett, but I don’t like your bed so we’re through.’”

“He _definitely_ likes my bed,” Garrett snorted.

Bethany grinned, taking his snide remark and running with it.

“See, there you go! What if…I don’t know, what if you come up with a way to show him you want to take the next step without actually _taking_ the next step?”

“Like buying him a cat? Cause that’s sort of at the top of my list right now. My list of one thing.”

“Ermm…” Beth made a face, stepping back as Garrett stood up straight once more. “Maybe…not that. We can brainstorm some more later, if you want.”

The bell over the door rang as their first customer of the day walked in. Garrett gave Bethany one more small smile as he walked back to the kitchen, her cheery voice ringing out across the room as she greeted the customer.

 _She might have a point, though_ , he thought. He patted Sandal on the back as he walked past, Sandal giving him a brief “hello” before turning back to his work. Garrett made his way to the back door, stepping outside into the frigid air and taking a deep breath, clearing his head and giving him a quick burst of adrenaline.

Feeling more awake than he had all day, he returned to the kitchen, leaning against the wall and taking out his phone. It was time to do a little shopping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo...anyone think they have an idea what Garrett's going to buy? ;)
> 
> And thank you again to everyone for your comments/reblogs/likes/etc. We're almost done and I can't believe it!


	21. Obnoxious singing of Christmas songs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anders hates Christmas carols with a burning passion, much to Garrett's horror

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating - T
> 
> I'm so sorry for this nonsense lol

Anders was ready to scream.

Christmas stories were one thing. He could get by without having heard many of the traditional stories or seen many of the movies, but the music…holiday music was inescapable. And he hated it.

So of course, Garrett had been playing nothing _but_ Christmas carols for the last several days. Anders had kept quiet, knowing that he only had a few more days to endure and that Garrett wasn’t doing it to be obnoxious (he hoped). His boyfriend’s excitement for the impending holiday was only growing, as was Anders’ own nervousness.

Garrett’s obscenely large gift had arrived that afternoon while he was at work, Anders having to fend off the angry glares of the mail carrier as he carted the box to the front door. In retrospect, he should have had it delivered anywhere _except_ Garrett’s apartment, but he finally settled on the outside storage closet as the temporary holding area until Christmas Eve.

But now Garrett was home, carols blasting throughout the apartment as he wrapped gifts and sang along. Anders was lying on the couch, a pillow over his head in an attempt to drown out the noise. He would occasionally peer out of the side, only to see Garrett shaking his shoulders (or sometimes his whole body) as he sang along. It was honestly the only thing that made this entire scene bearable.

Anders had nearly dozed off when he felt a gentle prodding in his side.

“Anders?” Garrett said softly, holding the pillow off of his head. The room was blessedly silent.

“Mmph…” Anders huffed, propping himself up on an elbow. “Sorry, must have fallen asleep. How’s the wrapping?”

Garrett gestured to the large pile sitting on the coffee table in triumph.

“And how many of those are for Woofy?” Anders grinned.

“Only _some_ ,” Garrett scoffed, pushing a large pile off to the side. “None of yours are in here though, I’ll have to wait until you aren’t in the room to wrap them.”

“They look great, love,” Anders smiled, now sitting up fully to watch as Garrett began placing them under the tree. Woofy had shifted his sleeping spot from the tree to in front of the fireplace ever since its arrival, leaving the space open for the gifts.

Garrett sat down next to him with a deep sigh a moment later, leaning his head back and giving Anders a fond smile.

“Doesn’t it look so much better with the gifts?” he asked cheerfully. He didn’t wait for Anders to respond as he continued. “Do you want something hot to drink? We can relax, sit in front of the fire, put some music on…”

“ _Please_ , no music,” Anders groaned before he could stop himself. He inhaled sharply, grimacing before wagering a glance at Garrett. As he expected, the other man was staring at him in open-mouthed horror.

“You don’t like Christmas music?” he asked quietly.

“Not that,” Anders said quickly. “It’s just…a bit much sometimes.”

Garrett bit his lip, squinting his eyes as he studied him for a moment.

“No Christmas songs at all?”

“Well…not really?” Anders replied, preparing himself for Garrett’s disappointment. But Garrett remained quiet instead, finally reaching for his iPad sitting nearby.

“Do you know the ‘12 Days of Christmas’?” he asked casually, tapping away on his screen.

“Yes, love,” Anders smiled. “I do know songs, even if I don’t know stories.”

“Oh, good!” Garrett exclaimed, face brightening. “That will make this easier.”

“…will make what easier?”

“I think you probably just haven’t heard the right kind of Christmas songs,” Garrett said matter-of-factly. “And I think I have the perfect one for you.”

Anders sighed, smiling as he held out his hand.

“Alright, I give up. Hand it over and I’ll watch it.”

Garrett raised an eyebrow in his direction.

“Watch what? You’re not watching, you’re singing. With me.”

Now it was Anders’ turn to stare at his boyfriend, shaking his head furiously once the shock wore off.

“I don’t sing, Garrett.”

“You said you knew the 12 Days of Christmas,” Garrett replied. “So it should be easy for you.”

“I…don’t remember the words,” Anders said weakly. He _didn’t,_ not really, although he did remember it was nothing but a lot of repetition.

“That doesn’t matter,” Garrett grinned. “Because we aren’t singing the real words.”

“What?”

“Okay, you know the tune right?” Garrett continued, ignoring his question. “Or do you want me to play it for you once?”

“No…I know it.”

Garrett grinned, shifting to make himself more comfortable.

“So I’ll sing the line first, and then you can sing the next one and we’ll do the chorus together, okay?”

“No.”

“’No’ you don’t understand, or ‘no’ you don’t want to do it?”

“Both.”

“Loveeee,” Garrett pouted. “What do I have to do to bribe you?”

“Garrett, I just really don’t feel like singing…”

“I’ll give you a gift early!” Garrett grinned, jumping up and sprinting to the bedroom. He came back a moment later, holding a medium-sized wrapped box and placing it on the table in front of them.

“Garrett…”

He was about to protest more when Garrett leaned over, grabbing Anders by the back of the head and placing a bruising kiss on his lips.

“And I’ll let you do that thing you’ve been wanting to try. Tonight,” he said gruffly, running a hand up Anders’ thigh.

“O-kay,” Anders choked out, nodding his head.

Garrett grinned in delight, repositioning himself once more.

“I have the lyrics here. And you know the tune, right? So we’ll just go back and forth.”

He looked at Anders expectantly, the other man just shrugging in resignation.

“Alright,” he sighed. “Here we go.”

Garrett held the iPad slightly in front of them so the words were clearly on the screen.

“ _On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a poodle in a dog house!_ ”

Anders stared blankly at Garrett as the other man flipped to the next stanza, waving his hand to encourage Anders to begin.

“Really, Garrett?”

“ _On the second day of Christmas…”_ Garrett prompted, pointing at the screen.

Anders sighed, running a hand down his face.

“ _On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me…two St. Bernards_.”

“ _And a poodle in a doghouse_!” Garrett finished loudly. “You’re supposed to join in on the refrain, too, love.”

“Sorry.”

“ _On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, three Cocker Spaniels…”_

He paused briefly, giving Anders a pointed look before continuing.

“ _Two St. Bernards and a poodle in a doghouse!”_

Anders’ voice was decidedly less enthusiastic than Garrett’s but the other man was just happy that he joined in at all. They continued down the list, Anders begrudgingly going along with the song and attempting to seem as if he was enjoying himself when all he really wanted to do was go to bed.

_“On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, eleven Labs a laughing!”_

Garrett still paused for a split second to allow Anders time to join in, although it was more mumbling than anything.

“ _Ten Dalmatians dancing, nine Chihuahuas chomping, eight sheepdogs snoring, seven Huskies howling, six Boxers boxing, fiiiiiive Golden Retrievers! Four Basset Hounds, three Cocker Spaniels, two St. Bernards, and a poodle in a doghouse!”_

Anders rubbed his eyes, thankful the song was almost over. He heard Garrett clear his throat, signaling it was Anders turn once more.

“ _On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…_ A cat? Is that right?”

Garrett burst into laughter.

“YES. But you have to sing it.”

Anders smiled a genuine smile for the first time that evening before shaking his head and restarting his verse.

“ _On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a cat!”_

Garrett swung his arms out at his sides as he joined in on the eleventh day, finishing out the song with a grand flourish that caused Woofy to get up and leave the room. Anders looked after him longingly, turning back towards Garrett when he heard the other man let out a loud sigh of happiness.

“Wasn’t that fun?” Garrett grinned.

“It was…something.”

“You had fun.”

“I had fun watching _you_ have fun, yes.”

Garrett sighed, picking up the box and handing it to Anders.

“I did promise an early gift.”

“It’s okay, love, you don’t—“

“Nope,” Garrett shook his head firmly. “We made a deal. It’s okay, I did a lot of shopping today.”

Anders frowned. “Didn’t you work today?”

“I did,” Garrett nodded, grinning. “But not as long as you thought. And no, it’s not a cat.”

Anders chuckled, tearing open the wrapping paper. His eyes widened as he opened the box, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks as he looked up at Garrett, who was beaming.

“I did make a second part to our deal, didn’t I?” he grinned mischievously. “Here’s something to help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually a real song, I can't take any credit for the ridiculousness (which may be a good thing).


	22. Watching the snow alone and watching the snow together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Possibly the last snowfall of the season arrives in Kirkwall, and Anders wants to make the most of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: E - last snowfall, last bit of smut (I think)
> 
> I also apologize for any errors or overall crappiness, I got delayed with work and this got finished in a bit of a rush. This is really just a PWP chapter that wildly strays from the actual prompt.

The snow started again while Garrett was at work.

Anders had dropped him off that morning, volunteering to pick up groceries during the course of his remaining gift shopping. It was only after he had returned home and was frustratingly trying to figure out how to wrap the boxes that he noticed the small flakes falling down.

“Woofy?” he called, flinging the tape dispenser onto the couch. “Want to go outside, boy?”

Anders stood on the back porch as Woofy ran into the yard, the paths they had cleared several days earlier still evident, although the mounds of snow on the sides had started to melt. He smiled, happy to see the flakes falling once more - even if they were nowhere near the size they had been the last few weeks. He had a feeling this would be the last he saw of the snow this season, and he wanted to make sure he enjoyed every minute of it.

Woofy began barreling through one of the snow piles, tossing his head and flinging snow in every direction, content to just run wild for a while. Anders took out his phone, taking a quick video of the scene and sending it to Garrett.

**Anders** : _your son is having fun this afternoon_

**Anders:** [attachment]

**Anders:** _p.s. it’s snowing again :)_

He smiled, taking a couple photos of the dog for good measure ( _just in case the video doesn’t work_ , he told himself. _Definitely not because it’s adorable_ ). He was just slipping his phone back into his pocket when it chimed.

**Garrett:** _I feel like such a proud father_

**Garrett:** _tell him he’s a good boy and I hope he gets you all messy_

**Anders:** _that’s your job, not his_

There was a pause and Anders grinned, imagining how red Garrett’s face probably was at that moment. He went back inside, allowing Woofy to run around a bit more and tire himself out while he made himself a cup of coffee. The days seemed a lot longer without Garrett around.

He was just about to walk back out to get Woofy when his phone chirped again.

**Garrett:** _that can be arranged tonight if you’d like_

**Garrett:** _but only if you tell me I’m a good boy_

Anders let out a small moan of approval at the words, staring at them for a moment before replying. 

**Anders:** _are you alone?_

**Garrett:** _sadly, no. you’ll have to wait_

Anders groaned in frustration, already feeling himself hardening in his pants.

**Anders:** _how long until you get home?_

**Garrett:** _someone impatient? ;)_

**Garrett:** _I have no idea, depends on when Bodahn decides we can go_

**Anders:** _okay…don’t take too long <3_

He put his phone back in his pocket while he went to let Woofy back inside, small smile forming on his lips as he devised a plan.

* * *

Garrett was having a slightly busier day at the bakery, mainly due to the absence of Bethany, who had the day off. Bodahn had decided with the shortened days and fewer customers there was no need to keep a full crew on hand.

Orana had just left, which meant it was just Garrett and Sandal in the quiet store, the latter man busy fulfilling the few holiday orders that remained. Garrett had been distracted ever since Anders had texted him earlier, anxious to get home for more reason than one. The snow had begun to fall at a more rapid pace, and although Anders had dropped him off that morning, Garrett wasn’t looking forward to driving in a fresh layer of slush and ice.

He was wiping the counter, counting the minutes until he could go home when he felt his phone buzz in his back pocket.

**Anders** : _is it time for you to come home yet?_

Garrett grinned at his lover’s impatience.

**Garrett:** _not yet :(_

**Anders:** _because someone is very impatiently waiting for you_

Garrett saw the picture attachment and grinned wider, wondering what Woofy had gotten himself into this time. He was secretly thrilled that Anders was spending so much time bonding with him, and they genuinely seemed to get along.

The picture finally loaded, revealing…Anders, reclining in bed naked with a very prominent erection showing through the thin bottom sheet. He could even see a small wet spot where the precum had soaked through.

Garrett let out a small whimper, biting his lip and looking around quickly to make sure he wasn’t heard. Not that Sandal would have paid any attention anyway.

**Garrett:** _whyyyy love_

**Anders:** _why what? I was just relaying information_

**Garrett:** _why do you tease me when I can’t do anything about it :(_

**Anders:** _tell me you’re ready to come home…_

**Anders:** _I just want to sit and watch the snow fall with you in front of the tree and the fireplace_

**Anders:** _naked, with your mouth around my cock_

“ _Fuck_ ,” Garrett muttered, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath as he willed himself to calm down. He glanced at the time once he opened them again, seeing that he had less than an hour to go. It would take Anders maybe 20 minutes to get there with the weather and the slow drivers. He wondered if he could convince Bodahn to let him go a half hour early.

“Sandal?” Garrett called as he walked into the kitchen. “Do you know what time your dad is coming in?”

Sandal turned to look at him over his shoulder, pointing towards the office door.

“Here now, my boy,” Bodahn greeted as he walked out. “How are you?”

“I’m a little worried about this weather,” Garrett lied, throwing an anxious glance towards the window. “I thought maybe we should close up a bit early? Like half an hour?”

Bodahn thought about it before nodding his head.

“Fair enough,” he said. “Just remember tomorrow you need to be here early. We have a lot of orders being picked up.”

Garrett sighed in relief, also nodding.

“Not a problem. Thanks, Bodahn.”

He texted Anders as he walked back to the front room.

**Garrett:** _good news, you can come get me now ;)_

**Anders:** _sorry, what? All I saw was “you can come” and got distracted_

Garrett rolled his eyes, grinning at the phone.

**Garrett:** _so you want me to give you permission? That’s new_

**Anders** _: just get ready, I’ll be there soon_

Garrett huffed at the short words before dialing the deli down the street and ordering them both a couple sandwiches. He had a feeling neither one of them was going to want to cook that night. He also walked behind the counter, grabbing a box and placing a few freshly made brownies inside for dessert.

Anders took no time at all to arrive, much to Garrett’s amusement. They picked up the sandwiches and headed home, Anders barely saying three words. To anyone else it would appear as if Anders was upset about something, but Garrett knew otherwise. He only got this way when he was on the brink of losing control, and the idea alone had Garrett hard before they even reached home.

“I’ll put the food in the kitchen, you put Woofy…somewhere,” Anders directed as they walked into the house. Garrett hummed in agreement, quietly corralling Woofy into the bedroom and giving him his favorite bone. Anders was waiting for him when he returned, shirt untucked and giving him a devilish grin.

Garrett walked over to him, Anders extended his arms as he got closer, enfolding the larger man and pulling him close.

“I missed you today, love,” Anders murmured into Garrett’s neck, giving him a few small kisses. “It’s boring without you.”

“What did you ever do before me?” Garrett teased, secretly thrilled at the words.

“I honestly have no idea,” Anders whispered, kissing his way from Garrett’s neck to his mouth. They shared a few leisurely kisses, Anders in a surprisingly languid mood compared to his earlier texts.

“Can we sit?” Garrett asked sheepishly after a few minutes. “I’ve been on my feet all day, so…”

Anders merely smiled and nodded, pulling Garrett over to the couch. Garrett sat with a sigh of relief, Anders quickly straddling his lap.

“I need some warming up,” Anders said, pretending to pout. “It was cold here without my space heater.”

Garrett wrapped his arms around Anders’ waist, pulling him in closer.

“And how exactly do you want to go about that?”

Anders grinned, pressing their foreheads together and giving Garrett a small kiss on the nose.

“Be creative.”

Garrett paused, pretending to think as he looked around the room until his eyes settled on the fireplace.

“We have the fireplace now.”

Anders looked skeptically between Garrett and the wall.

“You’re going to let _that_ do all the work for you?” he asked in disbelief. “I’m disappointed.”

He made a move to get up, Garrett gripping him tighter as he laughed.

“Hey, hey, wait a minute,” he grinned. “It just gave me an idea, that’s all.”

He snaked one hand in between them, gently massaging the hardness in Anders’ pants before thrusting upwards, once, rubbing their straining erections together.

“You know…” he murmured. “I heard if you rub two pieces of wood together it can start a fire.”

Anders stared at Garrett with wide eyes before shaking his head, actually standing up this time.

“That was so bad, Garrett,” he groaned before bursting into laughter.

“What!” Garrett protested. “I thought I was being sexy.”

Anders bent over, resting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

“That was…I don’t know what that was, but it wasn’t sexy,” he wheezed.

Garrett crossed his arms, huffing as he sulked. Anders took the time to turn on the tree lights and the fireplace and turn off the remaining lights in the house before returning to his boyfriend.

“Bad jokes or not, I’d still like to take you up on your offer,” he murmured, pulling off his sweater and unbuttoning his pants. Garrett went from moping to attentive in an instant, watching intently as Anders resumed his spot on his lap.

“Unless you’re not interested anymore?” Anders grinned, running a hand up Garrett’s chest.

“Oh, I’m _very_ interested,” Garrett blurted out, taking off his own shirt. “I just won’t open my mouth.”

“Unless I ask you to,” Anders smirked.

“Only if you ask nicely.”

“I will,” Anders purred, rolling their hips together once, pulling a groan from Garrett’s lips. “Because you’re so _good_ , love. You follow directions so well.”

Garrett moaned again as Anders unbuttoned his pants, sitting back and tugging so that Anders could pull them off. He removed his own pants at the same time, now only the thin cotton of their underpants between their aching cocks.

“Fast or slow?” Anders gasped, rocking their hips together again.

“Fast,” Garrett grunted, gripping Anders’ hips tighter as he ground them together. “I just need to—“

“Get off,” Anders breathed, leaning into Garrett’s neck. “Me too. We have the rest of the night to take it slow.”

Anders bit gently at the nape of Garrett’s neck, causing the man to whimper and buck his hips up sharply. The hand not holding Garrett’s neck now snaked back down between them, ghosting his fingers up and down the length of his erection.

“ _Fuck_ …harder,” Garrett groaned, raising his hips up higher to meet Anders’ hand.

“And I thought I was the eager one,” Anders smirked, gripping Garrett more firmly through the fabric.

“Please, love, I just want…”

“Want what?” Anders purred, fingers curling around the waistband of his underwear, ready to pull them off.

“I don’t care what…just want you to touch me,” Garrett moaned, trying to take them off himself. Anders smacked his hand away, sitting back just enough to take both pairs off, leaving them naked against each other.

Garrett began to reverently run his hands down Anders’ arms, across his hips and legs and back up his chest.

“You’re so perfect,” he whispered. “I will never get tired of looking at you.”

“I could say the same for you, love,” Anders murmured, bracing one hand on the back of the couch as he stroked himself several times, Garrett’s eyes never breaking from the movement.

“Anything special you want?” he asked, reaching out to take Garrett in hand.

Garrett let out a loud groan, tossing his head back against the couch as his hips strained for more contact.

“No,” he panted. “Just touch me.”

Anders grinned, sliding down to the floor between Garrett’s legs and running his tongue up the shaft of his cock before wrapping his lips around the head. Garrett let out a loud wail, one hand automatically reaching out to grip Anders’ hair, pulling him closer. Anders hummed in amusement around his dick, causing Garrett to writhe under his touch before Anders pulled away.

“I was just helping us get started, love,” he grinned, slicking up his hand before gripping them both and slowly beginning to stroke.

Garrett’s groans began to get progressively louder, his head still resting on the back of the couch with his eyes closed as his hips bucked frantically into Anders’ hands. Anders breath was coming rapidly now, thin sheen of sweat covering his body as he pumped their cocks, eyes never leaving Garrett’s face.

“Louder, love.”

Garrett’s eyes flew open, looking from Anders’ face down to his hand as he let out another loud moan, gripping Anders’ thighs.

“Louder.”

“ _Fuck_ , love, I’m—“

Anders leaned forward suddenly, latching on to one of Garrett’s nipples and giving it a quick tug with his teeth.

“ _FUCK_ ,” Garrett shouted, back arching into the touch. “ _Fuck_ …yeah, more…”

“More?” Anders grinned, pinching the nipple where his teeth had just been, causing Garrett to let out another desperate cry.

“More…” he panted, fingernails digging into Anders’ thighs. Anders could tell he was close, but he wanted to drag it out longer.

“Don’t you dare,” Garrett growled when Anders began to slow down.

“Or what?” Anders laughed, eyebrow raised as he continued to slow his strokes.

They stared each other down for a moment, breathing heavy and hips still working together in a steady rhythm. Until Garrett grinned.

He leaned back against the couch, thrusting his dick harder into Anders’ grip while his hands left Anders’ legs. Anders let out a small cry of protest but was quickly silenced as Garrett ran his hands slowly up his own chest to stop at his nipples, pinching them and letting out a loud, sinful moan.

“Oh, fuck yes, this is what I wanted,” Garrett groaned, rolling the nubs between his fingers as he stared into Anders’ eyes. His entire body was undulating beneath Anders’ touch and the other man could do nothing but stare at his lover as he stroked.

“Mmph,” Garrett whimpered, “feels so good, love. I can come from this if you won’t help…”

Anders brushed Garrett’s hands away, leaning forward to take a nipple between his fingers as he captured Garrett’s lips with his own. He moaned deeply into the other man’s mouth, biting his lip as he pulled away.

“Can’t have that, can we?” he murmured in a husky voice.

Anders sped up his strokes once more, kissing his way from Garrett’s mouth to his neck and gently tugging on an earlobe with his teeth. Garrett let out a small whimper, turning his head to the side to give Anders better access.

“Is this what you want?” Anders breathed, biting the nape of his neck. Garrett moaned in approval, moving his hands back to Anders’ ass to pull him close once more.

“Come for me, love,” Anders whispered, resting his forehead on Garrett’s shoulder so he could watch as their cocks slid against each other in his grip. “Oh, fuck love, _yes…_ ”

He came with a strangled gasp a few moments later, shuddering as he spilled over their hands. Garrett watched, whimpers mingled with his moans until he came with a loud “ _FUCK_ ” soon after.

They lay panting against each other, Anders gently stroking them until they began to soften. He finally sat up once he felt Garrett shiver against him.

“For someone always so warm, you get a chill pretty easily,” Anders smirked, wrapping a blanket around Garrett’s shoulders as he stood to grab a tissue to clean them off.

“You weaken my natural defenses,” Garrett grimaced, attempting to pull the blanket closer without getting it dirty.

“That sounded almost romantic, Garrett Hawke,” Anders grinned, wiping his stomach as he returned.

“What can I say, I love spouting poetry while my boyfriend wipes my come from his body.”

“Jesus, Garrett,” Anders laughed, wiping his stomach as well. He tossed the tissue into the trash, grabbing another blanket on his way back.

“Hey! What are you—“ Garrett shouted as Anders pulled back the curtain to the large front window.

“Shhhh, love,” Anders smiled. “No one’s going to see us.”

He wrapped his own blanket tighter around himself as he snuggled next to Garrett on the couch.

“Anders, we’re _naked_ ,” Garrett hissed, curling into himself.

“Why are you whispering?” Anders laughed, giving him a small kiss on the cheek. “I told you, I want to watch the snow fall together. It might be our last one.”

“Yeah, but…” Garrett stuttered. “I didn’t think you were serious about the _naked_ part.”

“Love…” Anders sighed, resting his head on Garrett’s shoulder. “You walk around half-naked all day. If anyone saw us they wouldn’t see anything they haven’t already.”

“I guess that’s true,” Garrett mumbled, tucking the blanket closer, regardless.

“It is,” Anders laughed, inclining his head enough to give him another small kiss. “Now let me cuddle and whisper sweet things into your ear until I fall asleep on your lap.”

“Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll be back to the actual plot tomorrow...we're so close to the end!


	23. The last day of work or class before the holidays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrett's last day at work before the holidays should be spent packing up orders, but he spends more time soothing a very nervous Anders' nerves instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: G, nothing bad in this one

Garrett yawned for what must have been the twentieth time that morning, despite being on his third cup of coffee. The bakery had been open for a couple hours, and even though they had barely had any customers he, Beth and Orana were busy packaging trays and boxes that people had specially ordered for Christmas. Since they weren’t open on Christmas Eve (or Day), there was always a last minute rush on the 23rd from frantic people who only remembered last minute that they needed gifts or desserts. Adding in the snow this year made it slightly better, as many people had no desire to venture out just to pick up some cookies, but it was still more work than they had seen in the last few days.

“What time are you coming over tomorrow, Gare?” Bethany asked, tying a bow around a box of cookies.

“Uhhh…mom said six, I think?”

Bethany nodded. “That sounds good. Aveline said she and Donnic might be late, but Carver is supposed to pick up the other three.”

“Which means they won’t get there until we’re done eating,” Garrett snorted.

“Which _means_ ,” Bethany grinned, “that they’ll be there extra early, so Carver gets first dibs on the food.”

“I told you I’m bringing sweet potatoes, right?”

Bethany giggled, picking up another filled box.

“I can’t wait to see his face. You might have to wrestle him for it.”

“I’d expect no less.”

“So, um…” Bethany began casually. “Is Anders ready? First big family event and all.”

Garrett frowned, shrugging slightly. “I think so? He gets a little twitchy when I mention it, but I can see why he’d be nervous.”

“Pitches in front of tens of thousands of people with no problem, but nervous for dinner.”

“You know it’s not the same thing, Bethy,” Garrett sighed. “This is a big deal for him.”

Bethany didn’t respond, skepticism written all over her face as she taped another box closed. Garrett was about to elaborate when he felt his phone buzz in his back pocket.

**Anders:** _are you sure there’s nothing else I can do for tomorrow?_

Garrett sighed. They had been through this conversation fifteen times already.

**Garrett:** _yes. relax._

He knew Anders was nervous and looking for something to occupy himself in the meantime, but there really wasn’t much he needed to do.

**Garrett:** _have you picked out what you’re going to wear?_

**Anders** : _yes, and what you’re wearing also. Is Woofy coming? I can pick out one of his collars_

Garrett stared blankly at his phone for a minute.

_Who is this man and what has he done with my boyfriend?_ He thought with a wry grin.

**Garrett:** _yes, Woofy is coming and no, you don’t need to pick out a collar. I already did that._

He put away his phone with a sigh, feeling it buzz again almost immediately, but he chose to ignore it. The faster he finished his work, the faster he could get home and placate Anders in person.

Bethany was giving him an amused smirk as she packaged more boxes.

“That him?”

“Yeah,” Garrett muttered, grabbing another tray. “He offered to pick out a collar for Woofy.”

“You really are rubbing off on him,” Bethany snorted. “But seriously, Gare. He’s met all of us, I don’t understand what the big deal is.”

“He’s met all of you in small, informal situations,” Garrett corrected. “Never all together for something like this. And he knows what a big deal Christmas is to us – especially me – and I guess he doesn’t want to, I don’t know…”

“Strike out?” Bethany giggled.

“Something like that,” Garrett grimaced. “Plus he has to deal with Carver following him around like a puppy dog the whole night. Which, by the way, please help me with that.”

“I’ll try,” Bethany frowned. “You also have Bela and Fenris to contend with.”

“Fenris will be fine,” Garrett replied, waving his hand. “I talked to him yesterday. And I think Bela will behave with everyone else around. Namely Mom.”

“I don’t know about that, Gare,” Bethany giggled. “Merrill can help keep Carver occupied. With food, probably. Fenris and I can rein in Bela. And you can worry about Anders.”

“I feel like we’re planning to invade a country,” Garrett sighed, scratching his beard. “It’s really not a big deal.”

“It’ll be fine, Garrett,” Bethany smiled, reaching out to rub his arm. “We all love him, we’ll do everything we can to make him feel at home.”

Garrett whispered a small thanks, feeling his phone buzz once more in his pocket. He rolled his eyes and smiled, Bethany giggling as he pulled his phone back out.

“8 missed texts!” he exclaimed. “Oh God, I hope he didn’t burn the house down…”

“Just more of an excuse to buy a new one,” Beth said lightly.

**Anders:** _the one with the bells? I don’t like that one, it’s too noisy_

**Anders:** _he should wear the red one with the holly_

**Anders:** _love, should I bring your mom flowers?_

**Anders:** _what kind of flowers does she like?_

**Anders:** _wait, Fenris is going to be there, right? Did we get him a gift?_

**Anders:** _I don’t want to give him another reason to be mad at me if we didn’t_

**Anders:** _you probably did, but I can run out and get something if not_

**Anders:** _Garrett, are you ignoring me??_

Garrett laughed, showing the screen to Bethany, who barked out a laugh.

“You have to admit, it’s kind of adorable, Gare,” she grinned. “He just wants to impress us.”

“He’s a famous athlete, Bethany,” Garrett scoffed. “I’m pretty sure he’s already impressed everyone.”

“I don’t think he cares about impressing us with his _pitches_ ,” Bethany replied, lifting an eyebrow. “What’s he going to do, throw a dinner roll across the room?”

“Preferably at Carver’s head,” Garrett smirked. “But yeah, you’re probably right.”

He sighed, knowing if he didn’t answer soon Anders was likely to come down to the bakery in person to badger him.

**Garrett:** _you don’t have to get her flowers, love. But I’m sure she’d like it._

**Garrett:** _if you do, just get one of those winter table centerpiece things_

**Garrett:** _the collar with the holly is fine, and yes, I got Fenris a gift_

**Garrett:** _did you really think I wasn’t getting my best friend a gift? Lol_

**Anders:** _I don’t know!_

**Anders:** _I’m going out now to get the centerpiece, do you need anything else?_

**Garrett:** _no, just take your time, please? I’ll be home in a couple hours_

Garrett shook his head, tucking his phone away silently and taking out another tray to start filling.

“Everything okay?” Beth asked with a small smile.

“Aside from my overly-nervous boyfriend rushing out to buy mom a flower centerpiece? Sure, everything’s great.”

“ _That’s so cute!”_ Beth squealed, clutching a piece of ribbon to her chest.

“Yeah, I guess it kinda is,” Garrett grinned. “Also, he picked out one of your gifts, so…you know, feel free to be enthusiastic in your thanks. He’ll be very excited. Even though I know you’re going to like it.”

“I hope he likes our gifts,” she said, biting her lip nervously. “You made me paranoid after our conversation the other day.”

Garrett gave her a kind smile. “He’s going to love them, don’t worry. You could probably tell him you found a rock you thought he would like and he’d be thrilled you thought of him.”

“This is hilarious coming from you, Mr. ‘He Won’t Like Anything I Give Him.’”

“I’m different,” Garrett scoffed, although he was blushing slightly. “Plus…I find him rocks all the time, I don’t count.”

“…that’s not a euphemism for something, is it?”

“Ahh…no,” Garrett said sheepishly, avoiding her gaze. “He has a whole collection on the dresser.”

Bethany snorted, trying to make it sound like a cough and failing.

“ _In my defense_ ,” he continued, “They are all very unusual and nice looking.”

“Do they look like dogs?” Beth asked, rubbing her head wearily.

“ _No_. Just nice.”

“Anyway…” she sighed, putting a box to the side. “It’ll all work out, Gare. Just try to keep him relaxed until tomorrow night. Once he gets there, I’m sure he’ll calm down.”

Just as she spoke, Garrett’s phone buzzed again.

**Anders:** _is $800 too much for a bottle of wine?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor nervous Anders, lol. Tomorrow is the big dinner, ahhhhhh! 
> 
> And in case anyone was wondering (since I've hinted at it), there may be a special 25th prompt to come ;)


	24. The traditional Christmas dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrett and Anders head off to the big Christmas Eve dinner at the Hawke residence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: T
> 
> I apologize for any errors, this did not get nearly the amount of editing I wanted because I've been so busy

“Garrett, what’s taking you so long?”

Anders had paced in and out of the bedroom several times, waiting for Garrett to finish getting dressed. The car had already been packed with gifts and the ridiculously large centerpiece Anders had purchased the day before, Woofy was freshly brushed and wearing his festive collar, and Anders had been ready to go for over an hour. All that was left was Garrett.

“This shirt is too tight,” Garrett griped, tugging at the sleeves.

“You look fine, let’s go.”

“I don’t think anyone has been this eager to spend time with my family.”

“I don’t like being _late_ ,” Anders said impatiently. “And the sooner we get there the sooner I can stop worrying.”

Garrett rolled his shoulders a few time with a grimace, trying to stretch out the new shirt Anders had insisted he wear that evening. He had a sneaking suspicion it was too tight on purpose.

“I’m almost done,” he sighed. “Just let me tie up my hair.”

Anders nodded.

“Alright. Woofy and I will be waiting in the car.”

* * *

They arrived at the Hawke house a short time later, Anders fidgeting the entire ride. As soon as he was let out, Woofy bounded up to the front door, wagging his tail as Leandra greeted them.

“Hi, Mom!” Garrett called, carrying in the large pan of sweet potatoes. Anders followed a short distance behind, mostly obscured by the flower arrangement.

“Garrett, you shouldn’t have,” Leandra said fondly, taking the pan from him as they kissed cheeks. “And hello there, Anders. What’s this?”

“Anders wanted to bring you a little something,” Garrett explained proudly.

“Oh my,” Leandra chuckled, ushering them into the house. “There’s nothing small about that.”

“That’s what he said,” Garrett coughed into his hand.

“Really, Garrett?” Bethany called, grinning as she walked into the room, giving him a smack on the arm.

“Let me take that for you,” she offered, turning to Anders, who gratefully handed over the arrangement.

“Oh, now I can see your handsome face,” Leandra smiled, putting the tray down and opening her arms for a hug. Anders blushed slightly, but smiled back, giving her a warm hug.

“Carver is still out,” Bethany explained as she scratched Woofy behind the ears. “And I have no idea when Aveline is getting here. They were both still at work the last time she texted me.”

Garrett shrugged. “We can save them some food, no big deal.” He turned back towards Anders, who was looking around the room with his hands in his pockets. “Come on, love. Let’s go bring in the gifts.”

Anders nodded in relief at something to do, following Garrett back out to the car.

“Uh, Mom?” Bethany said, looking at the extravagant centerpiece. “I don’t think that’s going to fit on the table.”

* * *

By the time Garrett and Anders had made their third and final trip to the car, Carver pulled into the driveway, the rest of their guests spilling out.

“Merry Christmas, everyone!” Bela shouted, skipping up to the house. She was dressed surprisingly normal – for Bela standards – in a short, red velvet dress and black belt, tall black boots and a large Santa hat on her head.

“You look amazing!” Bethany squealed as they hugged and kissed. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because you have sense,” Fenris smirked, walking up to the group.

“Pfft, you’re just jealous,” Bela scoffed, adjusting the hat on her head as Bethany ran over to give him a hug and a kiss as well.

“Uh, hello? Am I not standing right here?” Garrett asked, spreading out his arms. “Where are all my hugs and kisses?”

A small body flung itself in his arms less a second later.

“Merry Christmas, Garrett!” Merrill shrieked, hugging him tight around the neck.

“Awwww, Hawkey is feeling unloved,” Bela grinned, wrapping herself around his back.

“I’m not hugging you,” Carver grunted, pushing his way past and into the house.

“Awww, Gare!” Bethany giggled, clinging on to one arm.

“I should have kept my mouth shut,” Garrett laughed, staggering a bit to the side. Fenris walked over, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

“I’m not going to battle these women,” he chuckled. “Merry Christmas, Hawke.”

“I don’t blame you,” Garrett huffed, trying to free himself. He looked around, catching Anders standing off to the side by himself with his arms crossed, watching the entire scene with amusement.

“Hey, you know what would be a great idea? Everyone go hug Anders now and let me breathe!”

“ _Oooh_ ,” Bela cooed, immediately disentangling herself. “What an _excellent_ idea!”

“Oh…that’s okay,” Anders protested, backing away slightly.

“Sor-ry Anders,” Merrill said in a sing-song voice, letting Garrett go as well. “If you want to be part of this family, you have to deal with our hugs.”

“It’s true,” Bethany giggled, joining the other two.

Anders was soon enveloped by the three laughing girls, trying valiantly not to fall over. Garrett stood off to the side, grinning from ear to ear as he watched his overwhelmed boyfriend be fawned over by the girls. He couldn’t help the brief fluttering in his stomach and rush of happiness in his chest.

“I feel sorry for him,” Fenris remarked, standing next to Garrett.

Garrett slung an arm over Fenris’ shoulders, sighing contentedly.

“Me, too, Fen.”

They grinned at each other, preparing to pull the girls off when they heard Carver’s shout come from the house.

“Hey! Who brought the sweet potatoes?”

* * *

Dinner was still being prepared, so the group made themselves comfortable in the living room as they waited. Woofy had planted himself in front of the (real) fireplace, occasionally lifting his head at a loud noise but otherwise relaxing peacefully. Bethany was lounging in front of the tree, jumping up to help Leandra every now and then. Carver, Fenris, and Isabela were on the couch, Merrill perched on Carver’s knee with an arm slung over his shoulder. Garrett and Anders had the loveseat, Anders nestled into Garrett’s side, one hand resting on his thigh. Anders said very little, smiling at the conversation and content to let Garrett – a very loud, animated Garrett – do most of the talking.

“Have you two exchanged any gifts yet?” Merrill asked the pair.

“Merill, it’s Christmas _Eve_ ,” Garrett scoffed. “We’ll exchange tomorrow.”

“I don’t know, I might give you something tonight,” Anders smirked, giving Garrett a quick kiss.

Bethany let out a small giggle, clapping her hands over her mouth as Carver groaned.

“Oh, ho, _HO_ ,” Bela cackled, clapping her hands in delight. “I like him!”

Garrett blushed, looking down as he grinned.

“Why is that funny?” Merrill asked Carver, who just shook his head. “Is it something nice?” she asked Anders.

“I think he’ll like it,” Anders grinned.

“Anders!” Garrett hissed, shooting him a look.

“Sorry, love,” Anders chuckled, giving Garrett a kiss.

“You two are so cute,” Bethany cooed, Fenris making a gagging noise from his seat.

“Dinner’s almost ready!” Leandra called from the kitchen. “If one of my lovely children would like to pour the drinks, that would be wonderful.”

“I’m on it, Mom,” Bethany called back, hopping up and heading into the dining room.

“Use the wine I brought,” Anders shouted after her.

“That’s fancy wine, Anders,” Bethany frowned, poking her head back around the corner.

“There’s no such thing,” he responded, lifting an eyebrow. “It’s meant to be drunk, not sit on a shelf.”

“I agree,” Fenris nodded.

“Well…alright,” she said doubtfully, grabbing the bottles and disappearing from sight once more.

“Fenris agreed with me,” Anders whispered to Garrett a second later. “Please remember this moment.”

Garrett grinned, giving him a quick kiss on the head.

“He likes you, trust me. He just has a hard time showing it.”

“I’m going to go wash up,” Merrill announced, giving Carver a quick peck before standing.

“I’ll come with you, kitten,” Isabela said, smoothing down her skirt as she followed.

“You want to try some of that wine?” Carver asked Fenris, who nodded. “I want to see if mom needs any help with the food, too.”

“Don’t you dare eat all those sweet potatoes,” Garrett warned, pointing at him. Carver rolled his eyes, saying nothing, and the pair left the room.

Garrett turned to Anders, giving him a tender smile. The room was quiet, only the faint sound of Woofy snoring and the commotion in the kitchen drifting in.

“How are you holding up, love?” Garrett asked softly, running a thumb down the side of Anders’ face.

“So far, so good,” Anders smiled.

“More relaxed now?”

“Yeah,” Anders chuckled. “Everyone has been very…inclusive. Without being pushy. It’s nice.”

“I told you they like you,” Garrett murmured, leaning in to plant a gentle kiss on his lips. “Not as much as _I_ like you, but you know…”

Anders returned the kiss, one hand snaking up to tangle in Garrett’s hair as it deepened, holding him close.

They became lost in each other’s lips, totally oblivious to the world around them until they heard a small gasp off to the side.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Merrill apologized, cheeks flushing red. She hurried out of the room while Isabela leaned against the wall, looking at them with a grin.

“Don’t stop on my account,” she purred. “I’d _love_ to see Hawke get his gift.”

“ _God_ , Bela,” Garrett groaned, sitting back.

“I bet he makes such _lovely_ noises,” she grinned wider, winking at Anders.

“ISABELA!”

Anders glanced at Garrett before turning back to Bela, a mask of pure innocence on his face.

“He’s excellent at _receiving_ my gifts,” Anders agreed lightly. “Although he can be greedy…he’s always begging for more.”

He grinned at Bela who tossed her head back, laughing again.

“He’s a keeper, Hawkey,” she grinned, and with a small wave follower Merrill out of the room.

“Don’t encourage her,” Garrett sighed, shaking his head. “She really might ask to watch.”

“I’m sorry, love,” Anders grinned, giving him a small kiss before standing.

“You fit in more than you realize,” Garrett grumbled, joining him.

They made their way to the dining room, everyone except Leandra, Bethany and Bela already seated.

“Hey, Anders!” Carver called excitedly. “I saved you a seat next to me.”

“No, you didn’t,” Bela said, slipping into the chair.

“Bela, get out!” Carver yelled, shoving the back of her chair.

“How old are you?” Bethany chastised, carrying a tray of green beans into the room.

Anders and Garrett sat down in the seats opposite Carver, Anders giving him a friendly smile.

“Thanks, Carver,” he said smoothly. “It’ll be better to talk to this way, though, face to face.”

Carver thought about it for a moment before nodding.

“Good point,” he agreed, reaching for the spoon in the potatoes.

“Carver Hawke!” Leandra scolded. “You don’t help yourself until everything is on the table.”

Carver pulled his hand back, scowling. Merrill reached over to rub his back and he relaxed, giving her a small smile.

The rest of the food was brought out and everyone was seated, Leandra smiling down the table as she looked at everyone.

“Before we eat, I just want to say how happy I am to have you all here tonight,” she began. “Christmas Eve has always been important in this family, and it was always my hope that we could continue the tradition. And to be able to have all three of my children here, with the people that mean the most to them in the world is a special kind of honor for a mother. And I know you father would have felt the same way.”

Her gaze lingered on Garrett as she said the words before turning back to the others.

“So thank you, and I hope you all enjoy the food and we all have a wonderful year to come,” she smiled, before pausing briefly.

“And Carver, share the potatoes.”

The entire table burst into laughter – even Carver – as they began to take heaping portions of the food.

Garrett had nearly filled his plate when he realized that Anders hadn’t taken a single thing yet, and was instead watching everyone else with a faraway smile on his face.

“What’s wrong, love?” Garrett whispered, leaning over. “Aren’t you hungry?”

“I was just waiting for everyone to get their food first,” Anders replied, squeezing his knee in reassurance.

Garrett studied him for a moment before grabbing a roll and putting it on his plate.

“In this family, you can’t wait,” he smirked. “Otherwise, there won’t be any food left.”

Anders grinned and began helping himself. Garrett smiled, waiting until Anders was ready to eat before he took his own first bite.

“This is really good, Mom,” he said.

“Thank you, Garrett,” Leandra beamed. “But your sister did quite a bit of the cooking herself.”

“Ah ohohs err ood ooo,” Carver mumbled around a mouthful of food.

“God, Carver, swallow first,” Bethany frowned.

Garrett and Bela perked up at the same time.

“That’s—“

“NO!” Bethany yelled, laughing.

Carver swallowed, glaring at them all.

“I _said_ the potatoes are good, too. Geez, try to give someone a compliment…” He grumbled, hefting another forkful into his mouth.

“Merry Christmas, Carver,” Garrett grinned. “By the way…Anders knows the story.”

“Oh, come _on!_ ” Carver wailed, face turning red. “Why did you have to tell him that!”

“Because it was hilarious,” Garrett shrugged. “And you were a kid, who cares? We all do dumb stuff.”

“It sounded like something I would have done as a kid,” Anders laughed.

“Really?” Carver paused, looking at him skeptically.

“Yup,” Anders nodded. “It was a good story.”

Carver sat up a little straighter, smiling as he continued eating. Anders winked at Garrett, who shook his head with a small chuckle.

Dinner proceeded without incident, everyone sharing amusing stories and eating until they were stuffed. Bethany had taken home a couple boxes from the bakery the day before, and they sat around, drinking coffee and indulging on pastries until they were sleepy and full.

“Should we open presents?” Bethany asked, the only one seemingly not ready to fall asleep.

“You all go ahead,” Leandra smiled. “Let me make up a couple plates for Aveline and Donnic, in the event they show up.”

Carver was already halfway to the living room, dragging Merrill behind him.

“That’s a yes,” Garrett grinned.

“Don’t act like you don’t want to run in there behind him,” Anders teased.

“I’m trying to restrain myself for you, love,” Garrett teased back. “Don’t expect me to wait for you tomorrow morning.”

“Enough with the dirty talk, you two,” Bela snickered, brushing past them. “I want to see what kind of goodies everyone got.”

Everyone resumed their spots in the living room, Bethany stealing Bela’s Santa hat to pass out the gifts. The thought hadn’t struck Garrett until that moment that Anders might not receive as many gifts as the others. He had just decided that Anders could open some of his own if that was the case when Bethany walked over and handed Anders his own pile, which he took with a surprised thank you.

Garrett grinned, pleased and proud of the group for making the effort. He had no idea what they could have gotten him, but he had an idea that Anders wouldn’t care.

“Mom! Do you want us to wait for you before we start opening?” Bethany called over her shoulder. Leandra yelled back that they could start, and Carver began tearing into one of his gifts before anyone could stop him.

“Wait a minute, sweet thing,” Bela laughed, grabbing his wrist to stop him. “Let’s figure out how we’re going to do this.”

“We can just go in a circle and everyone opens a gift,” Garrett suggested. “And apparently Carver will be the first since he already started. Can you at least say who it’s from?”

“Oh, uh,” Carver frowned, looking for the tag. “This is from Bela. Should…I be opening this in public?” he asked, giving her a wary look.

“You have so little faith in me,” Bela laughed. “Yes, you can open it now.”

Carver gave her skeptical look but continued to unwrap the box, looking down at it in confusion.

“Did you…get me underwear?”

Bela and Bethany burst into laughter at the same time, Carver’s face going red.

“I helped,” Bethany grinned. “Just to make sure they weren’t too horrible.”

“Where’s…where’s the rest of it?” Carver frowned. “You know what? Never mind.”

He tossed the box off to the side, sulking and muttering a half-hearted thanks to Isabela, who just giggled.

“I should mention that Garrett, Carver and I aren’t exchanging our gifts tonight,” Bethany explained. “We’ll do that tomorrow. So you’ll all have a few more gifts than us.”

“Anders and I aren’t either,” Garrett added. “But let’s keep going.”

Merrill was next, choosing a small box on top.

“Ooooh,” she cooed. “This one’s from Carver.”

Carver fidgeted next to her, scratching his leg.

“I got you a couple if you want to open them all now.”

She reached down to pick up the other two boxes, placing them all between them.

“Which should I start with?”

Carver handed her a medium sized box, which she tore open eagerly.

“Herbs!” she exclaimed, holding up the box.

“You keep giving me those…plant things to take when I’m sick,” Carver explained, almost shyly. “So I thought you’d like a proper kit.”

“It’s amazing,” Merrill smiled. “Thank you.”

“The, ah, next two gifts go together.”

Carver handed her a larger box.

“Oh, Carver!” she gasped, pulling out an expensive-looking wood box covered with an ornate design of woven vines and flowers. She opened it to find a mirror on one side, velvet covering the rest.

“Open the next one,” Carver urged, smiling happily.

Merrill tore open the first box she had grabbed, revealing a tiny jewelry box. She glanced at Carver with wide eyes before she opened it.

“It’s not what you think!” he exclaimed. “I just…wanted to get you something nice.”

She opened the box, carefully taking out a glittering necklace with a small “M” charm at the bottom.

“I had them add the emerald,” Carver pointed, showing her the gem that hung right above the charm. “Since I know it’s your birthstone.”

“Carver Hawke gives a thoughtful gift,” Garrett said in shock. “I never thought I’d live to see the day.”

“Shut up,” Carver snapped. “I’ve given plenty of nice gifts before.”

His words were cut off as Merrill threw her arms around his neck and gave him a deep kiss, much to the delight of Bela and Bethany.

“I love them all, Carver,” Merrill sighed. “Thank you.”

Carver’s face was dark red as he mumbled a “you’re welcome” and all attention was turned to Isabela.

“Oooh, this is from Bethy,” Bela grinned, giving her a wink.

She opened the box, bursting into laughter as she looked inside, Beth joining her. She held up a jar of black olives and another of maraschino cherries.

“You are the worst,” she cackled, putting them back in the box. “And I’m not going to explain this.”

“First time for everything,” Carver muttered.

“Moving on,” Fenris said, clearing his throat as he picked up a gift. “This is from Hawke…and Anders.”

He lifted an eyebrow at the pair, Garrett grinning widely and Anders giving him a hopeful smile.

“Hawke...” he gasped, turning the box over in his hands. “This is…”

“Is it a good one?” Garrett asked eagerly. Fenris was staring at the box with wide eyes.

“This lens has to be…well, I know how much it costs, but _why?_ This is too much.”

“I had actually gotten you a less expensive one at first,” Garrett said sheepishly. He turned to Anders, laying a hand on his leg before turning back to Fenris. “But when I showed Anders he suggested we upgrade it, so we went back and got this one. Is it good, though? I checked to make sure it would fit your camera.”

Fenris was still gaping at the box before furrowing his brow.

“Hawke, I can’t take this…”

“You can and you will,” Garrett said firmly. “You deserve it.”

Fenris opened his mouth to speak again, but Garrett cut him off.

“Besides,” he teased lightly. “I bet it’s great for taking pictures at sporting events. Baseball games, maybe? Not that I have a crush on one of the pitchers or anything.”

Anders let out a fake gasp, pushing Garrett’s hand away.

“ _Crush?_ Is that all I am to you?”

“Who said I was talking about you?” Garrett retorted, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh _please_ enlighten me,” Anders grinned.

“Thank you,” Fenris cut in. He looked at Anders, giving him a steady look before breaking into a small smile. “To both of you. It will be put to good use.”

Anders grinned, looking at Garrett happily before settling back into the couch. Garrett leaned over, whispering into his ear as Anders began blushing, Garrett’s hand slowly making its way up his leg.

“Ahem,” Bethany said loudly, clearing her throat. “Can you save that for when you get home, please? It’s my turn.”

The pair jumped apart, Garrett’s face now flushed red as well.

“Sorry, Bethy,” he grinned. “Just needed to soothe some jealousy.”

“Do it later,” she smirked, picking up a box. “Okay, so mine is from Fenris.”

She gave him a bright smile as she tore open the wrapping, pulling out a beautiful red silk scarf.

“Oh,” she breathed. “This is beautiful, Fen!”

She tied it around her neck, adjusting it just so.

“How does it look?” she grinned.

“Beautiful, kitten,” Bela smiled.

“It’s very complimentary,” Merrill agreed.

“Thank you,” Bethany said, untying it and placing it back in the box. “I love it.”

Fenris cleared his throat and mumbled something that resembled a thank you before all eyes turned to Garrett and Anders.

“You go first, love,” Garrett said, nudging Anders towards his pile of gifts.

“Alright,” Anders smiled nervously, picking a box at random. “This is from…Merrill.”

Merrill beamed from the couch as he smiled at her.

Anders blinked as he opened the box, taking out a beautiful orange and white blown glass figurine of a cat.

“Garrett said you really liked cats,” Merrill explained, bouncing in her seat. “I have a friend who works with glass, so I had this one specially made for you.”

“I love cats,” Anders grinned, turning it over in his hands. “And this is amazing, Merrill. Thank you.”

Merrill giggled, grinning happily as she snuggled into Carver’s side.

“I guess that just leaves me!” Garrett exclaimed. “Let’s see…”

He pretended to mull over his choices as Carver groaned and told him to get on with it, finally picking one of the larger boxes in the pile.

“This is from Isabela,” he grinned. His smile disappeared seconds later as he gave her a side glance. “Can I open this here?” he asked suspiciously. “You said yes to Carver and we saw what he got.”

Bela threw her arms up in the air and huffed.

“You act like all I do is think of naughty gifts!” she shouted. “ _Yes_ , I promise you can open that one in public.”

“’That one’?” Anders asked, smirking.

“Maybe keep the other one for when you two get home,” she grinned.

Garrett sighed, shaking his head as he opened the box.

“A new Champions jersey!” he cheered, holding it up. “This is great, Bela!”

“ _Bela!”_ Bethany gasped before bursting into laughter.

“What?” Garrett frowned. “What happened?”

“Turn it around, sweets,” Bela cooed.

Garrett turned the jersey to the back, Anders barking out a laugh at the sight.

“Are you _kidding me?_ ” Garrett moaned, looking at her.

“Wear it with pride, Hawkey,” Bela grinned.

“I think you should put it on now, love,” Anders prodded.

Garrett sighed, head drooping down as he began to laugh. He unbuttoned the jersey, pulling it on before standing and modeling it for the group.

“Please don’t actually wear that to any games, Garrett,” Carver sighed, shaking his head.

“I love it,” Bethany giggled.

“I mean, it’s true,” Garrett shrugged. “I just don’t know that I’m going to go around advertising it like this.”

He was just about to take it off when Leandra walked into the room, wiping her hands off on a dishtowel.

“What’s all this laughing I hear?” she asked.

“MOM, look at Garrett’s jersey,” Bethany shrieked.

Leandra squinted, mouthing the words.

“’I love Anders’? Is that what it says?”

“Yes,” Carver groaned again. “Please don’t encourage him.”

“Oh, you’re just jealous I didn’t get you one,” Bela teased.

“I think it’s very sweet,” Leandra smiled. “I’ll be back in a bit, I’m almost done.”

She left and Garrett took off the jersey, folding it carefully and placing it back in the box before leaning over and giving a grinning Anders a quick kiss.

A knock came at the door a moment later, Woofy barking as Bethany jumped up to answer it.

“I bet that’s Aveline!” she yelled, running over.

Aveline and Donnic came walking in a few moments later, still in uniform but carrying a pile of gifts.

“You made it!” Garrett cheered, walking over to give Aveline a hug as she handed her gifts off to Bethany.

“Sorry we’re late,” Aveline apologized. “Busy night and all that. Did we miss all the fun?”

“We ate and just started gifts,” Bethany explained. “Mom put aside plates for you both, though.”

“I think we can take a quick break and have some more coffee or something,” Garrett suggested. “That way they don’t have to sit in there and eat alone.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Garrett,” Donnic scoffed. “We’re fine.”

“I think it’s a lovely idea,” Merrill smiled, jumping up. “I want more cookies.”

* * *

A few hours later and Anders and Garrett finished packing the car and were on their way home, Woofy sticking his head out of the back window the entire time.

“I’m exhausted,” Garrett grumbled, flopping on the couch after bringing in all their boxes. He glanced over at Anders, who had sat down next to him. “You weren’t ah…really planning on ‘giving’ me anything tonight, were you?”

“I was,” Anders grinned. “But that was before I knew how tired I would be. It’s a good thing, though.”

Garrett smiled softly at him, entwining their fingers together.

“Did you have fun? It was fun once we got there, right?”

“It was,” Anders agreed. “I was…much more nervous than I needed to be, I guess.”

“I told you they like you,” Garrett chuckled. “But I’m glad.”

They were quiet for a moment, both half asleep as they wound down from the evening. Garrett was willing himself to muster the energy to stand when Anders turned to him, a mischievous grin on his face.

“I do like that jersey, though, love,” he purred. “Maybe you should model it for me one more time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this was worth the wait! 
> 
> I'm not going to say my goodbyes thank you's yet, because we still have another prompt to come ;)
> 
> EDIT: I ALMOST FORGOT! I made [ the jersey](https://www.dropbox.com/s/p50nqd4el9h0h6t/jersey.jpg?dl=0) Garrett gets as his gift, lol


	25. Christmas Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas morning arrives, full of gift exchanging and letter revealing. To varying results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: T, some mild flirting, etc. You know the drill.
> 
> I apologize for any errors...holiday craziness has really cut down on my writing/editing time these last few days. 
> 
> Also, please see my end note for a thank you :)

Anders awoke the next morning to a loud shout coming from the living room. After a quick glance to his side to confirm yes, Garrett was not in bed, he checked the clock to see it read 5:45 a.m. He groaned, rolling onto his side and pulled the covers up higher, having no desire to move.

He remained that way for only a few seconds, sighing in resignation as he rolled out of bed. While he was excited about Christmas morning, he had also hoped Garrett wouldn’t be this…enthusiastic so early. He yawned, running his hand through his hair and was almost out of the room before he remembered the letters. Everything else had been placed under the tree the night before, but these he had saved. He took them from their hiding spot and tucked them into the back of his pants, making sure his shirt concealed them.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU GOT IT!” Garrett screamed as soon as Anders entered the room, gesturing at the couch. Anders had no idea where else to put Toothless, so he laid him across the length of the furniture, a big bow resting on his head.

“Is it all you hoped for, love?” Anders teased, giving him a quick good morning kiss.

“I have no idea what I’m going to do with it, but it’s amazing,” Garrett gushed happily.

He turned to Anders, still grinning. “Do you want to open your gifts now?”

“Coffee first,” Anders smiled, stifling a yawn. “I’ll make you a cup and you can…I don’t know, start on Woofy’s presents?”

“Oh! Good idea.”

Anders returned minutes later carrying two steaming cups of coffee, handing one to Garrett as he looked around the room.

“You can, ah…sit in the chair, I guess,” Garrett said. “I’ll sit on the floor and hand out presents. Since the couch is kind of occupied.”

Anders just grinned, shaking his head as he made himself comfortable.

“So, how did Woofy like his gifts?”

“We didn’t open them yet,” Garrett shrugged. “He’s still sleeping so I just pushed them into a corner for later.” He pointed at a large pile sitting on the far side of the tree, which a very-much-awake Woofy was staring at with interest.

Anders opened his mouth to point out this fact but decided against it when he saw Garrett nervously toying with a ribbon on top of one of the boxes.

“Well, love,” Anders began cheerfully. “You’re the Christmas expert, how do you want to do this?”

Garrett grinned shyly, shrugging as he looked at the ground.

“How about I give you your pile of gifts and I’ll take mine, and we can just take turns?”

“Sounds good to me,” Anders smiled.

“Aaaand,” Garrett drawled, pushing some boxes in Anders’ direction. “Since I already got a gift from you, you should open one from me next.”

Anders took a box from the top of the pile at random, silently wondering what Garrett could have gotten him that resulted in so many gifts. He unwrapped the box to reveal a picture frame decorated with tiny dog bones across the top.

“When is this from?” Anders grinned, looking at Garrett. Inside was a photo of Anders and Woofy in the park, Anders down on one knee, smiling and scratching Woofy behind the ears. He barely remembered it, let alone knew Garrett had taken a picture.

“Back in October, right after the season ended,” Garrett smiled softly. “Remember? It was really nice outside so we decided to take Woofy to the park before the ducks flew away, and then we stopped at the sandwich shop on the way home.”

Anders nodded, studying the photo.

“I do, now. I remember feeling guilty because I was so happy I didn’t have to think about going to work for the next few months because I wanted to spend more time with you.”

He gave Garrett a small smile, before putting the frame back in the box.

“Thank you, love. I’m going to put it next to my bed.”

Garrett bit his lip, looking away for a moment.

“Why did you feel guilty? I don’t think it’s a bad thing.”

Anders chuckled, putting the box to the side.

“Just because it’s my job, I guess? I love it, but it was the first time in years that I was looking forward to having free time again.”

“Ahh,” Garrett murmured. “Well…I’m glad you like it. It’s one of my favorite pictures of you two.”

They were quiet a moment until Anders finally cleared his throat. This was…not what he was expecting from Christmas morning. He thought Garrett would be off the walls with excitement right now, not staring pensively at his hands.

“Hey, love?” he began softly.

Garrett looked up, small smile on his face.

“Open that dog-shaped one next.”

* * *

They spent the better part of the morning opening their gifts, both confused as to how the other managed to come up with so many in such a short amount of time.

Most of Garrett’s gifts involved either dogs or dragons, although Anders had splurged and gotten him a few “entertaining” gifts as well.

“Ah, I’m not even quite sure what this is, love,” Garrett had said, blushing as he looked through some of the objects.

“Don’t worry,” Anders had grinned. “We’ll have plenty of time for you to find out.”

The gifts finally came to an end, Garrett sighing in contentment as he stuffed the last bit of wrapping paper into the trash. He surveyed his pile, shaking his head.

“You really didn’t need to get me all this stuff,” he murmured.

“I don’t have to do much of anything,” Anders grinned. “I wanted to, love. I would have gotten you more if I thought you would have let me.”

Garrett was quiet, smiling as he stood and walked over to the couch and fiddling with Toothless’ ear.

“I have one more gift for you,” he said quietly, attempting to smile until the nerves overtook him.

Anders frowned, wondering what could have Garrett this worked up.

“I have something else for you, too, actually,” he said, smiling when Garrett’s gaze snapped over to his. “But you go first.”

“Um, okay,” Garrett swallowed. “Let me go get it.”

Once Garrett left the room, Anders took the opportunity to slip the papers out from his back, tucking them into the chair next to him instead. He was still slightly worried as to Garrett’s reaction when he saw the letters, but he hoped the other papers tucked in with it would help. If the letter itself didn’t.

Garrett returned a moment later, holding a small wrapped box about the size of his hand and dragging a chair from the dining room with him. Once he had himself settled, he handed the box to Anders without a word.

Anders smiled at him as he unwrapped the box, pulling out a shiny key tied with a soft red ribbon.

“What’s this for, love?” he asked, holding it up with a confused expression.

“For, um…here. The apartment.”

“But…”

“You’ve been borrowing my keys the last few weeks,” Garrett continued quickly. “But, you know…I kind of need them back.”

He grinned bashfully, tucking a piece of hair behind his ear.

“So I thought…I don’t know. That you could use one of your own. And maybe…use it all the time?”

Anders studied him for a moment before looking back at the key, slowly turning it over in his hands.

“What are you saying, Garrett?”

“I’m saying…you should be able to come and go as you please. Or…you could stay.”

He was bouncing his leg anxiously as he spoke, sneaking glances at Anders every now and then but generally avoiding his gaze.

“Garrett, look at me.”

Garrett stopped moving, looking up to meet Anders’ eyes.

“Are you asking me to move in with you, love?” Anders asked softly.

“Y-yes?”

Anders chuckled softly, placing the key back in the box.

“What took you so long?”

Garrett exhaled deeply, letting out a small laugh of his own.

“Does that mean you will?”

Anders grinned, walking over to Garrett, who held out his arms to pull Anders close.

“I think we have a few details to work out, but yes, love.”

“God, I was so worried,” Garrett laughed, pulling him closer to he could lean his head against Anders’ stomach. Anders ran his hands through Garrett’s hair, waiting for him to calm down a bit before clearing his throat and taking a step back.

“This sort of makes my gift a bit…easier?”

Garrett looked at him curiously as Anders walked back to his chair, picking up the stack of papers and shuffling through them briefly.

“I, ah…” he sighed, closing his eyes before looking at Garrett. “Don’t be mad at me, love, but I kept these.”

He walked over, handing Garrett the stack of letters. Garrett’s expression went from confused to shocked to hurt in the span of a few seconds, yet he remained silent as he stared at each envelope.

“Why?” he finally asked. “I mean, I know you thought it was stupid—“

“That’s not why,” Anders insisted. “I just wrote a lot of…personal things in my letter. Things that I didn’t want anyone else to see. So I went back to get mine after you put them in the mail, and I don’t know…just took yours too.”

“I see.”

Anders kneeled down next to him, gently taking a hand a running his thumb over the top.

“I didn’t do it to hurt you, love,” he said quietly. “It wasn’t some kind of…protest or something. And part of the reason I kept it was because I wanted you to read it.”

Garrett looked at him at that, furrowing his brow.

“Just…” Anders sighed, reaching for his letter. “I’m not asking to read yours, but I want you to read mine.”

Garrett pondered the letter for a moment before tearing the envelope open. Anders sat back, wrapping his arms around his knees as he prepared to wait. Garrett snickered almost immediately, covering it too slowly.

Anders watched impatiently as Garrett read, the other man trying so hard to keep his expression neutral but failing over and over. By the end his eyes were wide, mouth hanging slightly open. He swallowed, shaking his head slightly as if to clear it before turning to look at Anders.

_“I can’t believe you talked to Santa like that!”_

Anders burst out laughing, springing back up on his knees to give Garrett a quick kiss.

“Do you see now why I didn’t want anyone to see it?” he grinned.

“Uh, YEAH,” Garrett huffed. “Although it made for interesting reading. For me. No one else.”

He paused, mouth twisting slightly as he thought.

“I didn’t know you were that nervous. Or anxious. Or whatever. It’s just me.”

“Exactly,” Anders laughed softly. “It was _you_.”

“You always know what you want,” Garrett smirked.

“Does that mean you aren’t mad anymore?” Anders asked, giving him a hopeful look.

Garrett sighed, putting the letter back in the envelope.

“I guess not. I mean, I wish you would have told me instead of hiding it…but at least I can understand why.”

Anders sat up again, cupping Garrett’s face gently and staring into his eyes before planting a soft, lingering kiss on his lips.

“Do…you want to read mine?” Garrett asked once they pulled apart.

“Only if you want me to, love.”

Garrett thought for a moment before nodding, handing him the remaining two letters.

“You have to read Woofy’s then, too. And mine isn’t nearly as exciting.”

“It’s a deal,” Anders chuckled. “But I want you to see something else first.”

He stretched back over to his chair, grabbing the other pieces of paper that he had left behind, handing them to his boyfriend. Garrett looked them over, brow furrowed as he tried to understand what he was reading.

“I don’t get it,” he finally said, shaking his head. “What is all this?”

“I gave up my apartment,” Anders smiled. “And I started looking at houses.”

Garrett’s eyebrows shot up, looking between Anders and the papers.

“That place always just felt like a place to keep my things,” Anders continued, brushing Garrett’s hair back from his face. “I want us to have a real home.”

“Us?”

“You aren’t coming with me?” Anders grinned, before realizing the implications of his words.

“I don’t…this doesn’t take away from what you gave to me, love,” he said soothingly. “It just made me realize that I could tell you this today, knowing you would be willing to put up with me.”

“Put up with _you_?” Garrett snorted. “I think you should be more worried about me. And Woofy.”

“If I’ve learned anything these last few weeks, it’s that ‘putting up’ with you two is exactly what I want,” he smiled.

Garrett looked at him skeptically, but Anders continued talking.

“And I’m still taking you up on your offer, you know,” he grinned. “I have to move out in a week.”

_“Anders.”_

“It’s fine,” Anders replied, waving his hand as he stood. “You can help me decide what we want to keep, and I’ll just sell or donate the rest. Whatever I can’t bring here will go into storage.”

Garrett stood as well, staring again at the papers until Anders took them from him gently.

“Now,” he purred, stepping closer. “I’m going to make us some breakfast, read these letters, and then I say we play with some of your new toys. Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I just need to say HOW IN THE HELL DID I MANAGE TO DO THIS? I'm not going to lie, I totally expected myself to crap out at some point during the month, apologize a lot, feel really guilty and then make up for it later. Or try to, anyway. I can honestly say that I think the support and excitement for these prompts is what made me keep going. So even though my entire purpose for doing this series was to say thank you to everyone for your continual love and support of CL (and my writing in general), I'm going to end up saying thank you again. This has been an extremely difficult last two months for me in my personal life, and even though I became incredibly overwhelmed at some points about not having these finished, they've still been a bright spot in my month. So all I hope is that you enjoyed them and they helped make your month a little better too. You guys are awesome.
> 
> And as sad as I am that these are finished, that just means the next chapter of CL is in progress :D
> 
> If you want to actually read the letters, they're in the next chapter :)


	26. The Letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who's inclined to know exactly what was written, here are the letters!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: T, Anders gets a little feisty

Dear Santa,

I’ve been a very good dog this year. I only chased the ducks a few times, and I only got off the leash twice! My dad said that’s really good because I have a lot of energy and like to run. And I only sometimes sleep on the furniture when no one is home, but I try not to leave any mess so they can’t tell. And I normally don’t like new people, but I really like dad’s new special friend a lot. Even though I get locked out of the bedroom a lot more than I used to.

So because I’ve been such a good boy, this is what I want this year: one of those really big meaty knuckle bones, a new collar, a squeaky toy that I won’t break in 5 seconds, a stuffed toy that I won’t tear up in 2 seconds, lots of ducks that I’m allowed to chase without getting yelled at, and a new ball.

I promise I’ll try not to bark at you when you get here, but I would like to sniff the reindeer.

Love,

Woofy Hawke

 

* * *

Dear Santa,

Okay, so first I should say thank you for answering my wishes from last year. I thought they were ridiculous when I wrote them, but I guess I must have been extra good or something cause look where I am now! I know I only wished to be able to meet Anders, but this kind of went above and beyond that, right? And I remember feeling really silly asking for a boyfriend, but I also remember being really lonely this time last year. I never would have hoped or imagined in a million years that both of those wishes would combine and ANDERS would be the boyfriend I asked for! So thanks for that.

And because of that, I don’t really have a lot to ask for this year. I want the usual – for my friends and family to stay healthy and happy. The same for Woofy, and I hope he gets all of the things he asked for in his letter (haha). For me, I’m really happy with my life right now. I know it got rough over the summer and I was prepared for the worst, but we came through it somehow. Anders is really more than I could have ever asked for. I always thought he was kind of a jerk, you know? Cause of how he always is in interviews and stuff. But I still thought he was really cool (and hot, haha) and, of course, he’s an awesome player. But then I found out that he’s really one of the kindest, funniest, and most patient and loving people I’ve ever met. I think it takes a lot to put up with me sometimes, but he was willing to fight for me when it mattered so I guess that means he plans on sticking around? Okay, add that to my wishlist – please make sure Anders sticks around. I really don’t want to lose him. I’m trying hard to write this fast cause he’s sitting right next to me and I don’t want him to see what I’m saying, so sorry if my handwriting gets really ~~crappy~~. Sorry for saying ~~crappy~~ in my letter. ~~Shit~~ , I did it again. Sorry!

ANYWAY. I really just want everything to stay the same as it is right now. Or maybe get a little better. I really want us to live together, but I have no idea if he feels the same way or how it would even work because we don’t have a lot of room here. And I’ll feel bad asking him to buy someplace just to make room for Woofy and me. So could you like…figure out a way to make that happen without it being weird for either of us? I’d really love an actual house, with a really big yard for Woofy to run around in. And we could have a nice bathroom with a bathtub! It would have to be one of those really big bathtubs, though, cause I don’t think I’d fit in a normal one. And I want Anders to have another good season, which I probably don’t have to wish for haha, but I will anyway. And I don’t know what he’s asking for in his letter, but I wish for all of those things too for him cause he deserves it.

Also, I really hope he bought me that giant Toothless.

Thanks Santa, I’ll try to bake you extra cookies this year.

Garrett Hawke

 

* * *

Dear Santa,

I can’t believe I actually just wrote those words, holy fuck. Sorry for cursing. So I need to write some stuff down on this paper because Garrett keeps looking at me to make sure I’m actually doing something, and I know how mopey he’ll get if I don’t. It’s really adorable, actually. He keeps glancing over with this worried little frown and then smiles when he sees that I’m writing.

I guess since I need to keep doing something, I’ll just write about Garrett because I don’t really have anything to “wish for.” Especially now that I have him. It’s not like anyone’s going to actually see this, anyway.

So last year started okay. I was happy to be away from my old shithole team, but Kirkwall was pretty different and I have to admit, I was kind of lonely. Not that I couldn’t find some company if I needed it…I just didn’t want to. So when I walked into that bakery, the very last thing I expected was to fall for the guy behind the counter. All I wanted was a croissant, but Garrett was so…enticing, for lack of a better word, that I had to come back. Just to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. And the second time I saw him, he was SO adorably nervous and flustered, and all I wanted to do was tease him to see how red he would get but I didn’t want to scare him away. Once he made me that brownie, though, I knew I was done for. I can’t remember the last time I was that nervous around someone, but all I knew was that I didn’t want to fuck this up. So how did I handle it? I got up and ran away from him and then couldn’t get up the nerve to come back again. I had to randomly leave him my number (with a few tickets for good measure) and hope he made the next move. And this was before I even knew for sure whether he was into guys…even though I had a pretty good idea he was.

And god…then we started texting, and he was so fucking cute and unsure and I loved everything about him. I thought I was coming on too strong - I was so tense the first time I sent him a picture. I mean, I was fine with how I looked, but I thought it might be too much all at once. Except it wasn’t, and all he did was draw me in more and more until that wall broke, and he just…even the most innocent flirting comments he made were enough to drive me wild. All I wanted to do was be able to touch him and tell him how wonderful he is. Then our texts got hotter and more explicit, and I was afraid to tell him how many times I had imagined he was the one touching me when I got off, but there was no way I could stop. Even looking at him right now…he’s sitting here biting his lip and making these intense looks of concentration as he thinks. He keeps tucking this loose strand of hair behind his ear and all I can think of is tangling my fingers in his hair and yanking him towards me, devouring those lips until we can’t breathe. He makes the most amazing noises, and I have so, SO many things I want to do to him to pull those noises from his throat. Can I add that to my wish list? I plan on buying him a few things to help us…experiment, a little. I would never push him to do anything he didn’t want, but the idea of him tied up to that bed, twisting and straining his body just for the tiniest bit of contact while I stay right out of reach, I

Sorry, Garrett’s finished so I’m going to pretend I’m finishing up, too. You probably don’t want to hear where that story was going anyway, haha (or do you??)

Thanks Santa, and uh…am I supposed to bribe you with food or something? I don’t know how this works, but I’ll leave that part up to Garrett.

Anders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And since I haven't posted it in a while, if you'd like to come hang out with me on tumblr, you can find me [here. ](http://draco-illius-noctis.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> I decided that I wanted to do something fun this year for the holidays, and since I can’t draw I thought I would do something I’m somewhat okay at - write. I found [ this post](http://justablobfish.tumblr.com/post/129588948187/christmas-writing-prompt) a couple months ago, and I immediately thought of my [ Caught Looking ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3803575/chapters/8473459) Garrett and Anders. Because when can I ever resist writing about them?
> 
> I want you to enjoy them. You are all so good to me, and I’m still overwhelmed by the love I get for CL, so I wanted to say thank you. 
> 
> So here’s the deal: there are 24 prompts. Starting on December 1, I will be posting one prompt per day, until we get to Dec. 24. I did switch the order around from the original list if you checked that out. And there may be a special extra unlisted prompt for the 25th :)


End file.
